Andronicus Chesebrough House

33 Howard Street | SoHo | built 1825

Open on the map5 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. 1824

    Merchant Andronicus Chesebrough builds a Greek Revival house at 33 Howard Street

    Tax records suggest dry goods merchant Andronicus Chesebrough built this three-story brick house around 1824. He was a partner in Chesebrough & Van Allen at 158 Pearl Street and invested in Manhattan land that became valuable as the city grew. He died on June 18, 1835 at 53, and his funeral was held at the house the next day.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1857

    July 21

    A pistol from the killing of Officer Eugene Anderson is found in the basement

    Rookie police officer Eugene Anderson was shot dead on July 21, 1857 when he surprised burglars breaking into a shoe store; Michael Cancemi fired the shots. Peter Marrin of Engine Company No. 40 later testified that a man named Racey found the weapon in the basement of the house. About two weeks after the killing, the widow who owned the house advertised it for rent, citing the end of her housekeeping there.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1859

    The parlor floor becomes a saloon, then the building turns to business

    By 1859 Charles Heinzel was listed as a liquor dealer here, with a saloon on the parlor floor, and an inquest in December 1862 on a woman who died at the address shows how rough the block had become. By 1866 Charles Chesebrough had moved his real estate office into his childhood home to manage the family estate. A cast-iron base was added when the house changed to commercial use, and furrier E. C. Boughton rented an upper floor by the mid-1870s.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1906

    S. A. Frost's Son, a dealer in Native American beads and goods, is in the building

    Stephen A. Frost, a former dry goods merchant, had traveled West to trade with Native American tribes and opened a retail store for baskets, beadwork and textiles. His son Dan ran the firm, S. A. Frost's Son, from this address by 1906; in 1910 a newspaper called him a 'trader in Indian beads.' The Chesebrough family kept ownership of the building until 1953.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 1973

    Off-Off Broadway's Primitive Theater plays in the old saloon space

    As SoHo's revival reached Howard Street, the Primitive Theater was staging Off-Off Broadway plays at No. 33 by 1973. The storefront that had been a saloon was later home to the Opening Ceremony boutique, which was there in 2010.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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