Cushman Row

406 West 20th Street | Chelsea | built 1840

Open on the map2 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. 1834

    Don Alonzo Cushman buys lots on West 20th Street for his row

    Dry goods merchant and savings bank founder Don Alonzo Cushman buys several lots on the south side of West 20th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues. He acquires them as Clement Clarke Moore and James N. Wells sell off Moore's family estate for development. Moore and Wells require tree planting, fireproof materials, and large yards, and Cushman begins building in 1839.

    Source: Village Preservation

  2. 1840

    Don Alonzo Cushman finishes his row of Greek Revival houses on West 20th Street

    Don Alonzo Cushman, a Pearl Street dry goods merchant who turned to real estate around 1833, bought lots here in 1834 and built this row of seven houses in 1839–40, working alongside Clement Clarke Moore, whose family owned the land. The houses keep their iron fences, candelabrum newels and small attic windows ringed by carved wreaths. The Landmarks Preservation Commission called the row one of the best preserved in the city.

    Source: Village Preservation

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