30 Water Street

Financial District | built 1828

Open on the map3 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1828

    Edward Remsen and Obadiah Holmes build three matching Federal buildings at 26 to 30 Water Street

    Hendrick Remsen bought most of this block front from the Van Horne family in 1747. In 1828 his great-grandson Edward Remsen partnered with Obadiah Holmes to build three matching four-story commercial buildings at Nos. 26 to 30, with red Flemish-bond brick fronts and brownstone trim. The cornices, usually made of wood on Federal buildings, were executed in brick here, and a granite Greek Revival storefront was most likely added in the 1840s.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1921

    Hardware dealers Reilly & Guy and the export firm W. D. Blood & Co. share a lease on the whole building

    Reilly & Guy Company, hardware dealers, were listed at No. 30 by 1894, left for Whitehall Street early in the 1900s, and returned in 1921 to share a lease on the entire building with W. D. Blood & Co. That firm had been formed in 1918 to export American automotive and hardware products. It took over the Motor Wheel Corporation's export business in 1931 and by 1938 was exporting automotive vehicles, having moved to larger quarters on Whitehall Street.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1969

    No. 30 becomes an eating and drinking place as brokers replace mariners on Water Street

    In 1943 the building was taken over by the ship chandlers I. K. General Marine Contracting Corporation. As the Financial District crept toward the waterfront in the second half of the century, the rough blocks beside the docks slowly turned into lunch spots for brokers instead of sailors. In 1969 the first through third floors of No. 30 were converted to an eating and drinking establishment, and city documents noted that the fourth and attic floors would stay vacant.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

Nearby

All 276 buildings with stories in Financial District