Mudd Club building

77 White Street | Civic Center | built 1888

Open on the map5 entries

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

  1. 1888

    Auguste Namur, a Luxembourg-born engineer, designs a warehouse with an exposed-rivet storefront

    Auguste Namur filed plans on February 17, 1888 for a six-story warehouse at 77 White Street. Namur was born in Luxembourg in 1837, trained as an engineer in Paris, came to the United States in 1873 and was listed as an architect by 1879. The cast-iron storefront has an I-beam lintel and exposed rivet heads used as decoration, which was unusual for 1888.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1889

    October 29

    Mayor Grant vetoes a bridge from 77 White Street to 378 Broadway

    Tenant Sweeter, Pembrook & Co., dry goods merchants, wanted a bridge over the street linking its White Street building to 378 Broadway. The Board of Aldermen approved it on October 15, 1889. Mayor Hugh J. Grant vetoed it on October 29, writing that the street was already narrow and dark. The firm stayed until it liquidated in 1904 with a large bargain sale.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1906

    Morgenstern & Goldsmith make umbrella handles and walking-stick fittings here

    After renovations, Morgenstern & Goldsmith took the building in January 1906. Founded in 1891 by Hans Morgenstern and Eugene J. Goldsmith, the firm imported and manufactured umbrella and parasol fittings and walking canes. It made handles in its own new factory here and opened a showroom. A creditors' petition in bankruptcy was filed against it in April 1911.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1978

    October 31

    The Mudd Club opens on the ground floor with a party for Punk magazine

    In 1978 art curator Diego Cortez and Anya Phillips talked East Village resident Steve Mass into backing a punk club in a ground-floor space still carrying a Reem Paper sign. Mass named it for Dr. Samuel Mudd, who treated John Wilkes Booth. It opened on Halloween night with a party for Punk magazine and closed in 1983.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 1979

    April

    The Times calls the Mudd Club nearly invisible but the newest night spot

    By April 1979 the Mudd Club had turned into a new hangout for the city's night people, tucked into the ground floor of an anonymous loft building. The New York Times described it as hard to find and dimly lit. Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz said he came about three times a week. Nico sang there one night, and at a Sunday pajama party Taylor Mead read poetry.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

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