424 East 136th Street

Mott Haven | built 1891

Open on the map3 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. 1891

    Architect George Keister, later a designer of theaters such as the Apollo, plans 424's row

    The landmarks report calls George Keister, designer of the ten-house row that includes No. 424, one of the most gifted architects working in New York at the end of the nineteenth century, though little is known about him. In the 1890s he also designed the First Baptist Church on Broadway at West 79th Street (1891) and The Gerard apartment hotel on West 44th Street (1893-94). Through much of his career he appears to have specialized in theaters, among them Belasco's Stuyvesant on West 44th Street and Harlem's Apollo Theater (1913-14).

    “Responsibility for the creation of this unusual row lies with architect George Keister, one of the most talented architects active in New York City…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1891

    No. 424 mirrors its neighbor 422 under a shared cornice and slate-shingled mansard

    No. 424 is the near mirror image of No. 422, with a segmental-arched entry, a wide window group beside it, and three third-story windows above a band of brick diaperwork. A galvanized-iron cornice and a shallow mansard with slate shingles cap both houses, which are flanked by tall chimneys shared with their neighbors. At No. 424 the brick window lintels project slightly, and the side windows of its parlor-floor group have lost their stained glass and original sash.

    “The houses at Nos. 422 and 424 are virtually mirror images of each other.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1900

    Canadian-born school principal Frances Ward lives at 424 with family and a servant

    The 1900 census recorded school principal Frances Ward, born in Canada, at No. 424. Ward's household included his wife, a sister-in-law, a niece and a servant. Next door at No. 422 lived salesman Isaac Cohen and his wife, Bertha.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Nearby

All 173 buildings with stories in Mott Haven