Dr. Cyrus Edson House

54 West 9th Street | Greenwich Village | built 1853

Open on the map3 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

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.

  1. 1853

    Reuben Wood builds the row house and sells it to investor Christian Lilienthal

    Builder Reuben R. Wood erected three Anglo-Italianate houses in 1853 on Ninth Street, then numbered 10 through 14 and renumbered 54 to 58 West 9th Street in 1867. The easternmost, now No. 54, went as an investment property to Christian H. Lilienthal, a tobacco and snuff merchant. Lilienthal leased it that year to the merchant Francis A. Bruguiere. The row had three-step stoops, fully arched entrances, and separate bracketed cornices.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1891

    The wife of health official Dr. Cyrus Edson dies, with her funeral held at home

    Dr. Cyrus Edson, a son of former mayor Franklin Edson, lived here from around 1888 with his wife Virginia Churchill Page and their five children. The Wilmington Evening Journal reported on July 31, 1891 that she had died at age 37, with cancer as the cause. Her funeral took place in the house on August 1 and was attended by several of Edson's colleagues on the Board of Health. In March 1892 his engagement to the widow Mary E. Quick was reported.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1920

    December

    Puppeteer Tony Sarg leases the house as his headquarters

    The Billboard reported on December 11, 1920 that marionette artist Tony Sarg had leased 54 West 9th Street as his headquarters. The building was remodeled to include a model theater, a studio, and a machine shop. Sarg was still living here in 1935, when Macy's hired him for its Christmas window displays, and he began building helium balloons for its Thanksgiving Day parade in 1928. He declared bankruptcy in 1939 and gave up the lease.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

Nearby

All 518 buildings with stories in Greenwich Village