James Brown House (Manhattan)

Last updated

James Brown House
Ear Inn 326 Spring jeh.JPG
(2009)
James Brown House (Manhattan)
Location326 Spring Street, Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates 40°43′33″N74°00′35″W / 40.72583°N 74.00972°W / 40.72583; -74.00972
Built1817
Architectural style Federal
NRHP reference No. 83001717 [1]
NYCL No.0568
Significant dates
Added to NRHPAugust 11, 1983
Designated NYCLNovember 19, 1969

The James Brown House is a historic building in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was built in the late 18th century. Today, it is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a New York City designated landmark. It is one of the few existing examples of Federal architecture in New York. Its ground level is the site of The Ear Inn, one of the oldest existing taverns in New York City.

Contents

History

The first record in New York City of the two-and-a-half-story Flemish brick house which features a gambrel roof and dormers [2] was in 1817, the year Greenwich Village was formally incorporated into New York City. [3] [4] The building was originally the home of James Brown, [5] an African-American Revolutionary War veteran, who was the proprietor of a tobacco store on the ground floor of the house. [6] At the time of the building's construction, the house was only several feet from the shoreline of the Hudson River, although subsequent urban development has since filled in land that has increased the distance to the shore. [3]

Brown sold the building to two apothecaries in the mid-19th century, Records show that a tavern occupied the shop from at least 1835; it was likely a bar even earlier than that, [6] making it one of the oldest taverns in New York City. [7] The house was purchased in 1890 by an Irish immigrant named Thomas Cloke, [7] who ran a tavern and sold beer and spirits to sailors and longshoremen. The tavern had a brewery that was later turned into a restaurant. Cloke was reported to be a successful businessman and was well regarded in the community.

Cloke sold the business in 1919 in anticipation of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibited the sale of alcohol. During Prohibition, the restaurant became a speakeasy, while the upstairs floors were variously a boarding house, a headquarters for smugglers, and a brothel.

After Prohibition, the bar re-opened, but now existed as a business without a name. It was simply called "The Green Door", [6] and catered to a clientele of waterfront workers, almost all of whom were hard-drinking regulars. The area declined sharply during the mid-20th century, as urban decay turned the once-bustling area into a nearly abandoned district.

In 1969, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the building as a landmark. [3]

The building, with distinctive sign visible James Brown House (Manhattan).jpg
The building, with distinctive sign visible

In the mid-1970s, a group of artists including Sari Dienes and Rip Hayman purchased the lease, and in 1977, they re-opened the bar. [8] To avoid having to request LPC approval for a new sign, the new proprietor Rip Hayman painted out part of the letter B in the "Bar" sign, turning it into the word "Ear", after The Ear, a music magazine they published upstairs. [6] [3] The Ear Inn became well known among the literary community. [4]

Today

Today, the James Brown House remains largely unchanged from its past appearance, even as urban renewal has transformed the area around it. Indeed, as part of the permitting process, real-estate developers have paid for thousands of dollars in repairs and improvements to the building, including a backyard fire escape. The Ear Inn continues to thrive as a bar and restaurant, under the proprietorship of Martin Sheridan; the building is still owned by composer and maritime lecturer Rip Hayman, and features memorabilia from its past. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission</span> Agency charged with administering New York Citys Landmarks Preservation Law

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and culturally significant buildings and sites by granting them landmark or historic district status, and regulating them after designation. It is the largest municipal preservation agency in the nation. As of July 1, 2020, the LPC has designated more than 37,800 landmark properties in all five boroughs. Most of these are concentrated in historic districts, although there are over a thousand individual landmarks, as well as numerous interior and scenic landmarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonewall Inn</span> Gay tavern and monument in New York City

The Stonewall Inn is a gay bar and recreational tavern at 53 Christopher Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the site of the 1969 Stonewall riots, which led to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights in the United States. When the riots occurred, Stonewall was one of a relative few gay bars in New York City. The original gay bar occupied two structures at 51–53 Christopher Street, which were built as horse stables in the 1840s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fraunces Tavern</span> Historic building in Manhattan, New York

Fraunces Tavern is a museum and restaurant in New York City, situated at 54 Pearl Street at the corner of Broad Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. The location played a prominent role in history before, during, and after the American Revolution. At various points in its history, Fraunces Tavern served as a headquarters for George Washington, a venue for peace negotiations with the British, and housing federal offices in the Early Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gadsby's Tavern</span> Historic commercial building in Virginia, United States

Gadsby's Tavern is a complex of historic buildings at 134 and 138 North Royal Street at the corner of Cameron Street in the Old Town district of Alexandria, Virginia. The complex includes a c.1785 tavern, the 1792 City Tavern and Hotel, and an 1878 hotel addition. The taverns were a central part of the social, economic, political, and educational life of the city of Alexandria at the time. Currently, the complex is home to Gadsby's Tavern Restaurant, American Legion Post 24, and Gadsby's Tavern Museum, a cultural history museum. The museum houses exhibits of early American life in Virginia, and the restaurant operates in the original 1792 City Tavern dining room, serving a mixture of period and modern foods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete's Tavern</span> Restaurant in New York, United States

Pete's Tavern, located at 129 East 18th Street on the corner of Irving Place in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, is a pub food restaurant and the oldest continuously operating restaurant and bar in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theater District, Manhattan</span> Neighborhood in New York City

New York City's Theater District, sometimes spelled Theatre District and officially zoned as the "Theater Subdistrict", is an area and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan where most Broadway theaters are located, in addition to other theaters, movie theaters, restaurants, hotels, and other places of entertainment. It is bounded by West 40th Street on the south, West 54th Street on the north, Sixth Avenue on the east and Eighth Avenue on the west, and includes Times Square. The Great White Way is the name given to the section of Broadway which runs through the Theater District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Park West Historic District</span> Historic district in Manhattan, New York

The Central Park West Historic District is located along Central Park West, between 61st and 97th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 1982. The district encompasses a portion of the Upper West Side-Central Park West Historic District as designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and contains a number of prominent New York City designated landmarks, including the Dakota, a National Historic Landmark. The buildings date from the late 19th century to the early 1940s and exhibit a variety of architectural styles. The majority of the district's buildings are of neo-Italian Renaissance style, but Art Deco is a popular theme as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1 Hanover Square</span> Building in Manhattan, New York

One Hanover is a commercial building at 1 Hanover Square, on the southwestern edge of the square, in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It was the site of the United States' first cotton futures exchange, the New York Cotton Exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius (restaurant)</span> Restaurant in Manhattan, New York

Julius' is a tavern at 159 West 10th Street and Waverly Place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is often called the oldest continuously operating gay bar in New York City. Its management, however, was actively unwilling to operate as such, and harassed gay customers until 1966. The April 1966 "Sip-In" at Julius, located a block northeast of the Stonewall Inn, established the right of gay people to be served in licensed premises in New York. This action helped clear the way for gay premises with state liquor licenses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Village</span> Neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City

The South Village is a largely residential area that is part of the larger Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan, New York City, directly below Washington Square Park. Known for its immigrant heritage and bohemian history, the architecture of the South Village is primarily tenement-style apartment buildings, indicative of the area's history as an enclave for Italian-American immigrants and working-class residents of New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ye Olde Tavern, Vermont</span>

Ye Olde Tavern is a restaurant in Manchester Center, Vermont, US, that is listed on the Vermont Register of Historic Places. It was built by Aaron Sheldon from Dorset, Vermont, in 1790, making it the oldest inn in the state of Vermont. It was also one of the first buildings in Manchester to house telephone lines, and was once "the headquarters for the movement to license the sale of 'spirituous beverages'." It began as a tavern in 1790 called The Stagecoach Inn, before becoming Lockwood's Hotel circa 1850. In 1860, the building was renamed Thayer's Hotel by the new owner, Steven Thayer. It became the Fairview Hotel in 1902 and, in 1934, it was a hotel and antique shop run by the new owner Walter Clemons. In 1975, it was renamed Ye Olde Tavern by Peter and Susan Palmer, who renovated the place in time for the 1976 United States Bicentennial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hudson Square</span> Neighborhood in New York City

Hudson Square is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by Clarkson Street to the north, Canal Street to the south, Varick Street to the east, and the Hudson River to the west. To the north of the neighborhood is Greenwich Village, to the south is TriBeCa, and to the east are the South Village and SoHo. The area, once the site of the colonial property named Richmond Hill, became known in the 20th century as the Printing District, and into the 21st century it remains a center of media-related activity, including in advertising, design, communications, and the arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hill's Tavern</span> United States historic place

Hill's Tavern is a historic building in Scenery Hill, Pennsylvania. It was heavily damaged by a fire that started shortly before midnight on August 17, 2015. For a period in the early 1900s, the inn was known as Central Hotel. Now called the Century Inn, it has been claimed to have been the oldest tavern in continuous use on the National Road, until the fire brought an end to its 221 years of continuous operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spring Street (Manhattan)</span> Street in Manhattan, New York

Spring Street is a street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, which runs west–east through the neighborhoods of Hudson Square, SoHo, and Nolita. It runs parallel to and between Dominick, Broome, and Kenmare Streets, and Vandam and Prince Streets. Address numbers ascend as Spring Street travels westward from the Bowery to West Street along the Hudson River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonewall National Monument</span> U.S. National Monument in Manhattan, New York

Stonewall National Monument is a 7.7-acre (3.1 ha) U.S. national monument in the West Village neighborhood of Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The designated area includes the Stonewall Inn, the 0.19-acre (0.077 ha) Christopher Park, and nearby streets including Christopher Street, the site of the Stonewall riots of June 28, 1969, widely regarded as the start of the modern LGBT rights movement in the United States.

The Stadt Huys was the first city hall in New York City, United States. It was built in 1642 by the Dutch, when the settlement was named New Amsterdam. The building was used until 1679, when the structure was no longer deemed safe for occupants. The structure was located at present 71 Pearl Street in the modern-day Financial District of Lower Manhattan.

References

Notes

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 189. ISBN   978-0-19538-386-7.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Schneider, Walker Schulte (March 20, 2024). "Five hidden secrets of NYC's Ear Inn". Time Out New York. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  4. 1 2 Nadelson, Reggie (November 13, 2018). "The 200-Year-Old Bar Beloved by Book Editors and Longshoremen". The New York Times. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  5. "James Brown House Designation Report" New York Landmarks Preservation Commission (November 19, 1969)
  6. 1 2 3 4 Amateau, Albert. "Ear Inn has colorful history and uncertain future" Archived September 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine The Villager (August 27 – September 2, 2003)
  7. 1 2 Dwyer, Kevin "Blasts from the Past" New York (June 6, 2005)
  8. 1 2 Lombino, David. "A Gleaming Urban Glass House Astonishes Spring Street" New York Sun (November 6, 2006)

Other sources