Bilger Stable

49 Market Street | Two Bridges | built 1915

Open on the map4 entries

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

1. 1865

   December 13

   A man falls to his death doing a somersault in the hallway of the Dunphy house

   Before the stable, a brick house stood here that was home to Irish-born Thomas Dunphy, his wife Julia, and their daughter and son-in-law. On December 13, 1865, the 50-year-old Dunphy tried to turn a somersault in his hallway, fell, broke his spine and died, according to the New York Times.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

2. 1894

   Charles Hawkins replaces the family house with a livery stable topped by a brick cornice and carved horse's head

   Charles H. Hawkins engaged the architect M. Muller in 1894 to design a three-story stable, costing $10,000, where the old Dunphy house had stood. Muller made the cornice, brackets, dentils and pediment entirely from brick, imitating cast metal. A carved horse's head identified it as a livery stable, and Hawkins leased it to attorney James Bilger.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1949

   The stable becomes a bar and grill with an American Legion clubroom upstairs

   In 1949, with horses long replaced by trucks, 49 Market Street was converted so that the ground floor held a restaurant, bar and grille while the second floor became an American Legion clubroom. A red brick veneer covered the 1894 facade and the brick cornice was removed, though the carved horse's head was left poking through. A dairy firm, Nicosia Bros., had bought the building in 1920.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

4. 2018

   July 22

   Artists host Headz, a Sunday-night head-drawing salon, in the former Legion hall

   After artist Spencer Sweeney moved his studio out in 2017, he, Brendan Dugan and Urs Fischer invited friends to draw human heads in the vacant studio. The New York Times compared Headz to Andy Warhol's Factory, and within months it drew artists such as Kembra Pfahler and Joe Bradley along with jazz players and skateboarders. The salon ended with the lease on July 22, 2018.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

• The Abused 1894 Bilger Stable - 49 Market StreetDaytonian in Manhattan

Nearby

• William and Mary Bogart Clark House51 Market Street | 4 entries
• 47 Market Street1 entry
• 123 Madison Street40 Market Street | 5 entries
• Nicholas Keane House96 Madison Street | 5 entries
• 56 Henry56 Henry Street | 1 entry
• Knickerbocker Village10 Monroe Street | 5 entries

All 43 buildings with stories in Two Bridges