Carl Fischer Building

56 Cooper Square | also 62 Cooper Square | NoHo | built 1920

Open on the map4 entries

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

  1. 1872

    Carl Fischer, newly arrived from Germany, opens an instrument shop on East 4th Street

    Carl Fischer was born in Germany and came to New York in 1872. Soon after arriving he started a shop selling musical instruments, on East 4th Street between First and Second Avenues. It was the beginning of a music publishing house that would spend decades a few blocks west on Cooper Square.

    “Fischer, who was born in Germany, came to New York in 1872 and opened a musical instrument store on East 4th Street between First and Second Avenue.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1880

    Carl Fischer's firm moves to Cooper Square and builds a catalog from band music to Rachmaninoff

    Having moved from selling instruments into publishing, Fischer relocated by 1880 to larger quarters on Cooper Square, near the site of the later headquarters. The firm first made its name with band music, including works by John Philip Sousa, Arthur Pryor and Henry Fillmore. It later became a leading orchestral publisher, acquiring pieces by Rachmaninoff, Fritz Kreisler and Ernest Bloch.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1923

    Carl Fischer dies as his firm moves into its new Cooper Square headquarters

    Carl Fischer, born in 1849, died in 1923, at about the same time his company moved into its new building at 56 to 62 Cooper Square. His son Walter S. Fischer took over as president that year. The firm's catalogs have since expanded to cover every genre of music.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1923

    W. K. Benedict designs a twelve-story store and factory for music publisher Carl Fischer

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    Architect W. K. Benedict designed this twelve-story Neo-Classical building, completed in 1922-23 for Carl Fischer. Its frame is steel and reinforced concrete, clad in brick and limestone, and it has an arcaded limestone base three stories tall. It housed the firm's store, offices and printing press until 1999.

    “…constructed in 1922-23 for sheet music publisher Carl Fischer (1849-1923)... The building contained the company's store, offices, and printing press until 1999.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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