Sun Fire Insurance Building

54 Pine Street | Financial District | built 1900

Open on the map4 entries

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

1. 1890

   May

   Arthur D. Pickering's Queen Anne building for London's Sun Fire Office opens, wearing terra cotta sun faces

   Arthur D. Pickering designed the five-story headquarters for the Sun Fire Insurance Company of London, finished in May 1890 at a cost of $160,000 with the land. Bands of stone and Roman brick give it a striped look, and terra cotta panels show sunbursts with faces, a nod to the firm's name. Sun Fire took the basement through the second floor, and the building was fully rented at opening.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

2. 1894

   October

   A jobless bookkeeper forges a check at Sun Fire, and the company's executives beg the judge for mercy

   James E. Cowan lost his bookkeeping job in the Panic of 1893 and had no money for food or rent for his wife and baby. He forged a $40 check, posed as an agent and collected a $12 commission at the Sun Fire offices before the scam surfaced. He confessed in court, and after Sun Fire officials sent letters begging for clemency, Judge Cowing suspended his sentence.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1895

   June 22

   Police arrest Sun Fire adjuster George W. Holt in the office on arson charges

   After a run of commercial fires in 1894 and 1895, many handled by the same adjuster, police arrested George W. Holt at Sun Fire's offices on June 22, 1895. They said he belonged to a ring that included a policeman and schemed with businessmen to burn buildings and split the insurance money. A jury deadlocked and he walked free, then was arrested again in 1896 after taking a job at another insurer.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

4. 1926

   May 1

   Chicago brokerage A. G. Becker & Co. moves into its own building at 54 Pine Street

   Sun Fire sold the building in 1923, and on May 1, 1926 the Times reported that the Chicago-based brokerage A. G. Becker & Co. had moved into its own building. Architect Lester Kintzing remodeled the interiors as banking offices, and bronze lettering with the firm's name went above the first floor. Becker filled all five floors until 1955, then left for 60 Broadway. Since 2000 the upper floors have held one apartment each.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

• The 1890 Sun Fire Insurance Building - 54 Pine StreetDaytonian in Manhattan

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