70 Franklin Street
also 72 Franklin Street, 2 Franklin Place | Tribeca | built 1861
Open on the map5 entries
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.
- 1860
Real estate operator Charles Contoit tears down two houses to build a marble loft on Franklin Street
Charles H. Contoit, a wealthy bachelor from one of New York's old families, demolished the buildings at 70 and 72 Franklin Street in 1860. Franklin Street between Broadway and Church had been residential three decades earlier, and was filling with commercial structures. The site's side alley, Franklin Place, gave the new building extra windows and delivery access.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1861
An Italianate marble-fronted store and loft wraps around the Franklin Place corner
The five-story building was built in 1860-61 and runs about forty feet along Franklin Street and a hundred along Franklin Place. Its facade is marble above the first story, with quoins and a sheet-metal cornice, and the ground floor keeps its original cast-iron columns and piers. The architect is unknown.
“The primary facade, on Franklin Street, is faced in marble above the first story, and has four bays of window openings per story.”
- 1897
Contoit dies, and his Franklin Street holdings go to auction
Charles H. Contoit died at his Fifth Avenue mansion on December 5, 1897, leaving an estate valued at over $1 million and, apparently, no known family. After provision for his servants, most went to charity. His real estate was auctioned in 1898-99, and the copper millionaire James B. Haggin paid $128,000 for 70-72 Franklin Street.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1899
A dry-goods merchant leaves his Franklin Street office and goes missing for two days
On the evening of November 6, 1899, Edward W. Scott, aged 70, left the Scott & Co. office here and never reached his home in the San Remo Hotel. His brother George searched hospitals and ferries until a telephone call on November 8 said he was at the Fort Lee ferry. Police found him in the New Jersey ferry house with no memory of the wandering.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1906
Erlanger Underwear takes over the B.V.D. brand while keeping its sales office here
In August 1906 the Erlanger Underwear Manufacturing Company announced its takeover of the B.V.D. underwear business. The company kept its selling offices at 70-72 Franklin Street, in a building that by then housed several underwear and white-goods firms. Men's Wear magazine reported the move.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
Further reading
- The 1861 Nos. 70-72 Franklin StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
Nearby
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- 51 White Street1 entry