Keuffel & Esser Building

42 Ann Street | also 127 Fulton Street | Financial District | built 1900

Open on the map4 entries

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

1. 1867

   Wilhelm Keuffel and Herman Esser found their drafting-instrument company

   German immigrants Wilhelm J. D. Keuffel and Herman Esser started their firm in 1867, initially selling imported drawing materials from a small Nassau Street office. They began manufacturing their own instruments around 1870, opened a retail store in 1872, and moved into a former New-York Herald building at 127 Fulton Street in 1878.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

2. 1894

   Keuffel & Esser builds a new headquarters on land it doesn't own

   Outgrowing its 1878 building, the drafting-instrument maker hired De Lemos & Cordes to design an eight-story Victorian showroom and office building of buff brick, cast iron, and terra cotta, with instruments worked into its cast-iron spandrels. Ground was broken in May 1892 on land still owned by the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, which the company leased rather than bought.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1908

   March 26

   Keuffel & Esser wins a court judgment against Nikola Tesla for unpaid bills

   Keuffel & Esser won a Municipal Court judgment against inventor Nikola Tesla over an unpaid bill on March 26, 1908, one of a string of financial disputes trailing Tesla during his years of dwindling fortune. A sheriff sent to collect on the judgment in 1910 came back empty-handed, finding no assets of Tesla's to seize.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

4. 1961

   Keuffel & Esser leaves Fulton Street after nearly seventy years

   The company, which had shifted its main operations to Hoboken in 1907 and kept 127 Fulton Street on as its New York sales showroom, vacated the building entirely in 1961.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

• The 1894 Keuffel & Esser Co. Bldg -- No. 127 Fulton StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
• KEUFFEL & ESSER BUILDING, SeaportForgotten New York
• A defunct Downtown tool business lives on—thanks to this faded ad on the side of its former headquartersEphemeral New York

Nearby

• Armeny Building90 Nassau Street | 5 entries
• Bennett Building99 Nassau Street | 3 entries
• 19 Dutch19 Dutch Street | 3 entries
• Loft's Candies storefront88 Nassau Street | 1 entry
• Fulton Building130 Fulton Street | 5 entries
• 141 Fulton Street1 entry

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