Ivison & Phinney Building

48 Walker Street | also 50 Walker Street | Tribeca | built 1859

Open on the map4 entries

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

  1. 1841

    Textbook publisher Ivison, Phinney & Co. already works from two older buildings on this site

    Before the present building went up, two old structures stood at 48 and 50 Walker Street. Ivison, Phinney & Co., a publishing firm, had been working from this address as early as 1841. In 1857 owner Josiah Lane demolished both buildings and hired architect Robert Griffin Hatfield for a replacement, and the publishers stayed on as early tenants of the new one.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1859

    February 9

    Ivison & Phinney move into the new marble building and concentrate on school textbooks

    A notice in the New-York Daily Tribune on February 9, 1859 announced that Ivison & Phinney had taken the new double store at 48 and 50 Walker Street. Booming demand for their school and college books led them to focus solely on educational titles. A Buffalo paper that December listed their series, from readers and spellers to arithmetics, and said 15,000,000 copies had been sold. They also issued a teachers' journal, The Educational News, from here.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1900

    November 12

    A cotton-batting fire causes more than $600,000 in losses and leads to a sixth floor

    On November 12, 1900, a pile of cotton batting on the second floor ignited, probably from overheating, and by 2:00 a.m. a fourth alarm was called as flames swept the upper floors. Police put the loss of goods above $600,000 in the money of the day, and damage to the structure at $75,000. Owner John Boyle hired John F. Kelly & Co., who finished repairs in 1901 and added a sixth story in keeping with the original Italianate design.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1905

    March 27

    A small fire sends some 400 garment workers into a panic on the stairs

    The women's apparel maker Max Roth employed more than 400 people here. At about 9:00 a.m. on March 27, 1905, a scrap of paper caught fire on the fifth floor and a girl's cry of "fire" set off a stampede. The Buffalo Enquirer described a crush on the stairs and said the men got out first, while several girls suffered hysteria. Firefighters cleared the building, and no one was killed.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

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