Fire Patrol No. 1 building

41 Murray Street | Tribeca | built 1915

Open on the map5 entries

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

  1. 1856

    Ebenezer Cauldwell, a china importer, builds a marble-front loft at 41 Murray Street, probably to Thomas & Son's design

    Ebenezer Cauldwell (1791-1875), a Birmingham-born importer of china, glass and earthenware, owned the lot from 1843 and lived there into the 1850s. Around 1856 he enlarged or rebuilt the house as a five-story Italianate store and loft building faced in marble. The city's landmark report attributes the design to the architects Thomas & Son, whose members included Griffith Thomas, and says he apparently built it as an investment rather than for his own business.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1856

    November 9

    A fire in the building behind 41 Murray Street wrecks its roof and floors months after it opens

    At 3 a.m. on November 9, 1856, a blaze that started in the cellar at 39 Warren Street, directly behind 41 Murray, burned until daylight and, the Times said, destroyed four of the area's finest buildings. A neighboring building fell on the rear of 41 Murray, bringing its roof and floors down to the sub-cellar. Hardware dealer Thomas E. Bishop & Co. lost $15,000, and it and the shoe wholesalers upstairs returned after repairs.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1859

    July

    A hardware firm's clerk is arrested, accused of keeping debts he collected in Illinois and Michigan

    In 1859 Thomas E. Bishop & Co., the hardware and cutlery dealer at 41 Murray Street, sent clerk Henry M. Malone west to collect debts. He collected sums in Illinois and Michigan worth about $52,000 in today's money but reportedly pocketed them. Pursued and taken into custody, he was the subject of a newspaper report on July 27 a newspaper reported that he denied the charge and hoped to prove his innocence.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1872

    June

    A hardware firm that supplied Tammany Hall faces a bankruptcy petition after the Tweed exposure

    E. A. Heath & Co., run by James H. Ingersoll at 41 Murray Street, had a lucrative hardware contract with Tammany Hall. After the Times published the city's accounts in 1871 and Boss Tweed was arrested in 1872, the scandal reached merchants in Tammany's network. On June 25, 1872 the Herald reported a petition to force the firm into involuntary bankruptcy.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 1906

    October 15

    The Fire Patrol's truck is hit by a Sixth Avenue streetcar as it leaves 41 Murray Street

    On October 15, 1906, the fire salvage truck left 41 Murray Street for an alarm at 3 Desbrosses Street. A northbound streetcar speeding up West Broadway struck it at the Murray Street crossing, and the motorman said he had not heard its bell or gong. The seven-man crew was thrown into the street, most were unconscious, and at least one died of his injuries.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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