56 West 10th Street

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.

1832
A Federal-style merchant's house is built on West 10th Street
No. 56 was built in 1832 as an orange brick Federal house for a well-to-do merchant family, as Greenwich Village was changing from a rural village into a fashionable neighborhood. Fluted Ionic columns flanked the doorway, which had leaded sidelights, and the basement fence was topped with iron palmettes. Iron basket newel posts on brownstone pedestals were capped with pineapples, a traditional sign of welcome. Two arched dormers raised the attic for servants' sleeping quarters.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
1890
April
Oscar L. Spitzer spreads a false firehouse rumor on the block
In April 1890 Oscar L. Spitzer told the Mary Bachman family, who lived at No. 56, that the Fire Department wanted nearby land for a new engine house. Bachman checked with her lawyer and learned the department had no such plan. Spitzer apparently hoped falling property values would frighten owners into selling cheaply so he could build an apartment house, and neighbors reacted angrily.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
1923
Architect Howard Major is hired to add a private art studio
Architect Howard Major was commissioned in 1923 to add a private art studio to the English basement of 56 West 10th Street. The change came as Greenwich Village drew artists and musicians in the years during and after World War I. The house remains a private residence with well-preserved ironwork and architectural detailing.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

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