97 Reade Street

also 99 Reade Street, 101 Reade Street | Tribeca | built 1862

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

  1. 1861

    Carpet merchant Alvin Higgins demolishes three Federal houses at 97-101 Reade

    Alvin Higgins bought the three Federal-style houses at 97, 99 and 101 Reade Street between 1855 and 1858, as the block between Church Street and West Broadway turned commercial. Each had been converted to business use. Late in 1861 he demolished them and commissioned architect Isaac F. Duckworth to design replacements. This was an earlier set of buildings on the site.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1862

    Isaac F. Duckworth's three marble loft buildings at 97-101 Reade are made to look like one

    Duckworth designed three Italianate buildings and disguised them as a single structure, with cast iron storefronts from Daniel D. Badger's Architectural Iron Works. Four floors of white marble above were split by a middle cornice, each half using paneled pilasters in place of the thin columns of a sperm candle arcade. The three were joined inside by about 1865, and in 1988 the cornice was removed and two floors were added.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1879

    June 18

    A night watchman hired by a grocery firm at 97 Reade strikes a patrolman in a late-night dispute

    Wholesale grocer Francis H. Leggett & Co. had hired a watchman, John O'Halloran, through the American District Telegraph Company to test its doors at night. Patrolman Thomas J. Sullivan twice confronted him on June 18, 1879, and after sharp words struck him with a club. O'Halloran disarmed the officer and hit him on the jaw. A justice dismissed the case against the watchman, and Sullivan was censured.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1880

    November

    A grocery firm at 97 Reade has its former delivery driver jailed over a mislabeled order

    In October 1880 the Leggett firm hired John Duffy as a temporary driver. A $41 grocery order was mislabeled for New Haven, so he took it to the boat, and he then quit. When the customer complained, Francis Leggett charged him with grand larceny on November 3, and Duffy spent four days locked up, losing his new pilot's job. The firm dropped charges and offered $300 and a permanent job if he abandoned a lawsuit, which he refused.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 1896

    February

    The Phonograph Record & Supply Co. moves into 97-101 Reade and signs tenor George J. Gaskin

    The newly formed Phonograph Record & Supply Co. took space in the three buildings in February 1896, joining tenants such as the Dexter Folder Company. That August it announced it had signed George J. Gaskin, described as one of America's most popular singers. Among his records that year were "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill" and "The Fatal Wedding."

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

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