Hotel Irvin

308 West 30th Street | Chelsea | built 1925

Open on the map4 entries

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

  1. 1914

    April 4

    Mary Morris Irvin's corporation buys three houses for a residence for working women

    Mary Morris Irvin, widow of banker Richard Irvin, organized Hotel Irving, Inc. in 1914 to build a safe, affordable home for women working in the city. On April 4, 1914, a real estate journal reported that the corporation had bought the three houses at 308 through 312 West 30th Street. The project took a decade to reach construction, and Irvin died in 1918 before it began.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1925

    January 9

    Two workers die when a floor collapses during construction

    Construction began in August 1924, more than a decade after the land was bought, with plans filed by Sugarman & Berger for a neo-Georgian building. On January 9, 1925, the newly poured eighth floor collapsed through the lower stories to the basement. Two men were fatally injured, and the building was completed before the year ended.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1930

    February

    A newspaper counts 190 business women living in the Irvin residence

    In February 1930 the New York Evening Post reported that the building housed 190 business women. There was one kitchen for every three-room unit, and the tenants shared the cooking. Some residents earned a little money by working from home, and a few cooked for other tenants.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1956

    The building is converted into apartments

    In 1956 the former Irvin Hotel was converted into apartments, six on each floor and two on the penthouse level. A brochure advertised new stoves, refrigerators and kitchen cabinets, and a laundry room was in the basement. By 1957 two staff members of the Philippines Mission to the United Nations were among the tenants.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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