Charles Miller House
31 Jones Street | West Village | built 1828
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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.
- 1828
Charles Miller builds a modest house behind his larger corner house
Miller bought the big house at the corner of Herring and Jones Streets in 1825, and around 1828 he finished a smaller two-and-a-half-story home directly behind it at No. 31. It most likely had red brick, a stone stoop and two dormers that would have given servants sleeping rooms. The stoop was later removed and the entrance dropped to the basement, and the facade was resurfaced to imitate brownstone.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1843
A Black chimney sweep who lived here collapses and dies at Downing and Bleecker Streets
By 1843 the house had become a rooming house. The Herald reported a coroner's inquest into the death of Cesar Tredwell, a Black patent sweep from 31 Jones Street, who collapsed in a fit and died at the corner of Downing and Bleecker. City law required chimneys to be swept monthly, and by one 1846 account the work was done mostly by Black men.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1895
A boarder and her landlady have a persistent ex arrested after a false report of his death
Bertie Croker, a boarder in Fannie Washington's house, ended a six-year relationship with Julius Carpenter and sent him packing. A telegram signed by a man named Singleton then told her Carpenter had died, but a letter from the supposed corpse arrived hours later saying he was never in better health. Bertie and Fannie had him arrested, and he promised the court to stop pestering them.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1917
Rose Wilder Lane and the artist Berta Hoerner rent rooms in the house
Rose Wilder Lane, daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo Wilder, rented rooms at No. 31 with her friend, the artist Berta Hoerner. Neither stayed long, since both were passing through New York and soon moved on to California. She later came to be regarded as a founder of the American libertarian movement.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1921
Harold Stearns finishes Civilization in the United States in his basement apartment, then leaves for Paris
The critic and editor Harold Stearns rented the basement apartment by 1920, and his rooms hosted discussion groups that drew Elsie Clews Parsons and Lewis Mumford, who recalled the best sustained conversation of his life. Stearns completed the essay collection Civilization in the United States while living here. In July 1921 he handed the manuscript to his publisher and departed for Paris.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1941
Tenant Affie Hammond testifies that Communists formed a network in the city's Welfare Department
Affie Hammond, who lived at No. 31, had worked for the city Welfare Department from 1934 until she was fired in 1939. She had belonged to the Communist Party from 1935 to 1938. Testifying before Justice Lloyd Church in a fired investigator's lawsuit, she said that 500 to 600 party members in the department used a network to help allies and hinder opponents.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
Further reading
- The Chas. Miller House - 31 Jones StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
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