Almanac House

647 Hudson Street | West Village | built 1840

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. 1840

    James and Elizabeth Dean build rowhouses at 643-649 Hudson Street that already hold seven or eight workers apiece

    James and Elizabeth Dean bought the land in 1837 and built the row of Nos. 643-649 Hudson Street, which includes No. 647, around 1840. An 1851 city directory shows each house sheltering seven to eight working-class men and women, which makes them early tenements. The Dean Estate kept the row until 1956, when investor Robinson Callen bought it.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1942

    Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger live with the Almanac Singers at 647 Hudson Street, says Place Matters

    The City Lore project Place Matters lists 647 Hudson Street as a former home of Woody Guthrie and the Almanac Singers. Guthrie and Pete Seeger are said to have lived there about 1942 with fellow Almanac Singers, and the place was known as Almanac House, a name also given to other spots where the singers lived or worked. Guthrie's autobiography Bound for Glory appeared in 1943, about the time he lived here.

    Source: Internet Archive

  3. 1993

    The Anti-Violence Project and the Empire State Pride Agenda are listed at 647 Hudson Street from 1993 to 2003

    The district report lists the NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project and the Empire State Pride Agenda together as tenants of No. 647 from 1993 to 2003. The ground-floor shop had earlier held other businesses: C.H. Luedeke sold produce there in 1889, and Jansen Cigars occupied it from 1936 to 1946.

    “No. 647: C.H. Luedeke, produce (1889); Jansen Cigars (1936-1946); NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project/ Empire State Pride Agenda (1993-2003)…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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