James Brown House (Ear Inn)

326 Spring Street | Hudson Square | built 1817

Open on the map4 entries

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

1. 1817

   James Brown's brick house appears on Spring Street near the Hudson shore

   The first city record of this two-and-a-half-story Flemish-bond brick house dates to 1817. Its owner, the African American James Brown, ran a tobacco store on the ground floor. When it was built, the house stood only a few feet from the Hudson River shoreline, which landfill has since pushed away. A tavern occupied the shop from at least 1835, making it one of the oldest taverns in the city.

   Source: Wikipedia

2. 1919

   Tavern owner Thomas Cloke sells the Spring Street building ahead of Prohibition

   Irish immigrant Thomas Cloke, who bought the Spring Street building in 1890 to run a tavern serving sailors and dockworkers, sells the property in 1919 just before Prohibition takes effect. The new owners keep serving liquor illegally behind a restaurant front, while the upper floors reportedly double as a boarding house, a smugglers' den, and a brothel.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1969

   November 19

   The city designates the James Brown House a landmark

   The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designates the 1817 James Brown House at 326 Spring Street an individual landmark on November 19, 1969. The Federal-style brick building was built for James Brown, an African American Revolutionary War veteran who ran a tobacco shop on its ground floor, and it stood only a few feet from the Hudson River shoreline at the time. It is added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

   Source: Wikipedia

4. 1977

   Rip Hayman paints over a neon sign and names the Ear Inn

   In 1977 the bar's new proprietor, Rip Hayman, painted out part of the letter B in its "Bar" sign so that it read "Ear," a nod to a music magazine published upstairs, and the place has been the Ear Inn ever since. The Landmarks Preservation Commission had designated the house on November 19, 1969.

   Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

• James Brown House (Manhattan)Wikipedia
• The 1817 James Brown House - 326 Spring StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
• Ear Inn (in the James Brown House)Place Matters

Nearby

• Urban Glass House330 Spring Street | 5 entries
• Charles C. Dyer House and Store510 Greenwich Street | 5 entries
• 488 Greenwich Street House488 Greenwich Street | 5 entries
• 486 Greenwich Street House486 Greenwich Street | 9 entries
• Dennison and Lydia Wood House310 Spring Street | 5 entries
• 504 Canal Street House504 Canal Street | 9 entries

All 79 buildings with stories in Hudson Square