Hugh King & Co. building
630 Hudson Street | West Village | built 1847
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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.
- 1847
Sashmaker Stephen Kane builds 630 Hudson Street on land sold off from Captain Towning's estate
Captain Richard Towning, who made his career in the West Indian slave trade, owned the tract bounded by West 12th Street, Jane Street, Hudson Street and Eighth Avenue. After he died in 1843, his executors began selling it. Sashmaker Stephen Kane bought lots as speculative investments, built No. 628 in 1846, and in 1847 began a taller four-story house at No. 630, while the Towning estate put up an identical No. 632 beside it.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1862
Dr. James Norval, living at 630 Hudson, asks New Yorkers for books for his regiment's hospital
When the Civil War began, Dr. James Norval left his Hudson Street practice to serve as surgeon of the 79th Regiment, the Highlanders. In December 1862 he wrote home that he had plenty of medical supplies but lacked entertaining and instructive reading for convalescents, and he asked New Yorkers, especially publishers, to help him set up a hospital library.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1874
Surgeon James Norval's funeral at 630 Hudson Street draws soldiers of the 79th Regiment
Dr. James Norval died on May 21, 1874, aged 51. His funeral was held at 630 Hudson Street on the following Sunday, and soldiers of the 79th Regiment paraded and escorted the coffin to Greenwood Cemetery. He was buried with military and Masonic honors, which newspapers tied to his Civil War service.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1881
Grocer Hugh King buys 630 and 632 Hudson Street and alters them, adding a cornice bearing his name
In the last week of January 1881 wholesale grocer Hugh King bought the adjoining buildings at Nos. 630 and 632 for $23,650. Within two months he filed plans for $6,000 of alterations: a one-story rear extension, a new roof, iron columns and girders to replace the front basement and first story, and a new cornice whose parapet read HUGH KING & Co. 1881. The firm was listed as grocers in 1883 and in provisions in 1886.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1903
Grocer Edward Rafter uses 630 Hudson Street as the warehouse for his nine stores
By 1903 Hugh King had leased Nos. 630-632 to Edward Rafter, who used them as a liquor and grocery warehouse through 1908. On August 2, 1903, the New-York Tribune praised his bulk buying for nine stores and cheap selling, which kept goods fresh. His slogan was 'Purest goods, lowest prices.'
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
Further reading
- Hugh King & Co. -- Nos. 630-632 Hudson StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
- Then & Now photos: 630 Hudson StreetVillage Preservation: Greenwich Village Then & Now
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