50 Howard Street

also 16 Mercer Street | SoHo | built 1860

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.

1860
A. W. Spies completes a five-story store and loft building at 50-52 Howard Street
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A. W. Spies's building, finished in 1860, has five stories and six bays of stone and iron, and it was meant as a store with lofts above. Its cast-iron storefront has Corinthian columns and flanking pilasters spaced to take large double doors and windows. The upper four floors are identical, with segmental-arched windows and stone quoins.
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1864
D. T. Valentine's 1864 city manual prints a lithograph of 50-52 Howard Street and notes its use for soldiers
Valentine's 1864 city manual includes a color lithograph of the building's facade. It records that, although built for commerce, the structure served during the Civil War as a temporary home for furloughed and discharged soldiers under the New York State government. The L-shaped section running through to 16 Mercer Street was used in the same way.
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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