431 Broome Street
SoHo | built 1825
Open on the map5 entries
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.
- 1825
A merchant-class brick house goes up on Broome Street, possibly built by George Dutch
Around 1825 a three-story red brick house with a dormered attic and an arched, carved doorway was built here, a block east of Broadway. It was possibly built by merchant George Dutch, whose family certainly lived there from the mid-1830s to 1843. By around 1900 it had a shop window and a raised full-floor attic.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1862
Edward Lauter opens a violin and guitar store as pianos and instruments take over the block
In 1862 Edward A. Lauter opened a musical instrument store at No. 431, listed as a violin and guitar maker. Piano firms were gathering on the block, with Lighte & Bradbury across the street by 1860 and Tremaine & Brothers arriving at No. 435 before 1866. By 1866 a relative, Franz Lauter, had joined, and the firm advertised everything from accordions and banjos to brass instruments.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1873
A firm offers a $300 reward, no questions asked, for a stolen tin box of bonds and deeds
On February 20, 1873 lawyers for an unnamed business at this address placed an ad in The Sun about a tin box stolen from the building. It held $10,000 in North Carolina bonds, mortgages and deeds, and payment on the bonds had been stopped. The reward of $300 would be paid with no questions asked if the box was returned.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1885
The basement saloon changes hands three times in a year as landlord Felix Marx loses patience
In 1884 owner Felix Marx leased the basement saloon to Charles H. Balz at $100 a month. A year later Balz sublet it to Ernst Schnopp, who within days signed the saloon and lease over to Bernheimer & Schmid. By September 1885 Marx had leased it to Schnopp again at a reduced $1,000 a year.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1903
Two detectives rescue skirt-factory workers from a second-floor fire above a crowded lunch restaurant
On December 1, 1903 flames broke out at the Gordon & Mascovitch skirt factory, while Herrmann's Restaurant in the basement was packed with lunch patrons. Detective Sergeants Vallely and Collins, riding a streetcar, heard screams a block away and ran in. The Times reported that they carried the trapped women down, and the blaze never spread past the second floor.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
Further reading
- The Colorful History of No. 431 Broome StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
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