Jefferson Market Library

Last updated

Jefferson Market Library
(Third Judicial District Courthouse)
Jefferson Market Library at sunset.jpg
At sunset in 2024
Jefferson Market Library
Location425 Avenue of the Americas
Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates 40°44′5″N73°59′57″W / 40.73472°N 73.99917°W / 40.73472; -73.99917
Built1874–1877
Architect Frederick Clarke Withers
Architectural style High Victorian Gothic [1]
NRHP reference No. 72000875
NYSRHP No.06101.000423
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 9, 1972 [2]
Designated NHLDecember 22, 1977 [3]
Designated NYSRHPJune 23, 1980 [4]

The Jefferson Market Branch of the New York Public Library, once known as the Jefferson Market Courthouse, is a National Historic Landmark located at 425 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), on the southwest corner of West 10th Street, in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, on a triangular plot formed by Greenwich Avenue and West 10th Street. It was originally built as the Third Judicial District Courthouse from 1874 to 1877, and was designed by architect Frederick Clarke Withers of the firm of Vaux and Withers.

Contents

Though faced with demolition in 1958, public outcry led to its reuse as a branch of the New York Public Library. The building is now part of the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission's Greenwich Village Historic District, created in 1969. [1] In addition, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 [2] and made a National Historic Landmark in 1977. [3] The AIA Guide to New York City calls the building "A mock Neuschwansteinian assemblage ... of leaded glass, steeply sloping roofs, gables, pinnacles, Venetian Gothic embellishments, and an intricate tower and clock; one of the City's most remarkable buildings." [5]

Early history and architecture

A tall octagonal wooden fire lookout tower was the first building on the site, built circa 1833, located in the center of the merchants' sheds at the Jefferson Market that had been established at this site in 1832 and named for the late President. Court sessions were held in the Jefferson Assembly Rooms that rose above the market sheds. The wood tower and the market structures were torn down by the city to build a new courthouse, the adjacent Jefferson Market Prison building that stood on the corner of West 10th Street and Greenwich Avenue and new coordinated market housing (built in 1883). Of the carefully massed eclectic and picturesque group, only the former Courthouse now remains.

The commission for the new courthouse went to the firm of Vaux and Withers, but as Calvert Vaux was busy with the American Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the design fell to his partner, the English-born Frederick Clarke Withers. [6] Withers came from the same background as Vaux, [6] so it is not unusual that his High Victorian Gothic design was similar in some respects to the "Ruskinian Gothic" aesthetic of Vaux's early buildings, such as in its polychrome materials – red brick, black stone, white granite, yellow sandstone trim and variegated roof slates. Reasoning that a building with a clock tower was going to look like a church no matter what he did, Withers decided to add church-like touches with non-religious content, such as the tympanum which shows a scene from The Merchant of Venice instead of the usual scene of Christ sitting in judgment or other ecclesiastical subject matter. [6] The building also features stained glass windows and a fountain decorated with birds and animals. [1]

The courthouse was completed in 1877, and in 1885 a panel of American architects sponsored by American Architect and Building News voted it the fifth most beautiful building in America. [1]

Jefferson Market Court in 1935, with the IRT Sixth Avenue Line in front of it. Photograph by Berenice Abbott (1935) Jefferson Market Court, southwest corner of Sixth Avenue and West 10th Street, looking north from southwest corner of Sixth Avenue and West 9th Street, Manhattan (NYPL b13668355-482552) (retouched).jpg
Jefferson Market Court in 1935, with the IRT Sixth Avenue Line in front of it. Photograph by Berenice Abbott (1935)

Use and reuse

The building got substantial use as a courthouse, as the Third Judicial District covered the Madison Square area, where the city's entertainment district – The Tenderloin – was located. So heavy was the traffic, that the country's first night court began there. [6] Among the more noted people arraigned in the courthouse was Harry K. Thaw, the murderer of celebrity architect Stanford White. [6]

The building ceased to be used as a courthouse in 1945; [7] its future was uncertain, and it was in danger of being torn down. A group of community preservationists led by Margot Gayle and Ruth Wittenberg formed the Committee of Neighbors to Get the Clock on Jefferson Market Courthouse Started and campaigned to have the building converted into a library. [5] In 1961, the New York Public Library agreed to the plan and architect Giorgio Cavaglieri was brought in to restore the exterior [5] and redesign the building's interior for its new use – one of the first adaptive reuse projects in the United States, and a signal event in the historic preservation movement. [1] The restoration is estimated to have cost $1.4 million. [8] The library opened in 1967, [1] with the police court becoming the Children's Reading Room, the Civil Court the Adult Reading Room. [9] Budget cutbacks in 1974 caused the Board of Trustees of the New York Public Library to vote to close the branch, as well as two others. [8] After an outcry from residents, the decision was rescinded one month later. [10]

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977, both under the name "Third Judicial District Courthouse". [3] [11] [12]

The building received further restoration in 1994 by preservationist architect Joseph Pell Lombardi. [5]

Recent history

Video architectural tour of the Jefferson Market Library

In 1996 "Ol' Jeff", the fire bell, silent in the Tower for 135 years, regained its voice with Margot Gayle's help, thanks to Cynthia Crane and Marilyn Dorato. It strikes the hours from 9am to 10pm. On April 13, 1997, The New York Times wrote: "The bell has newly and unexpectedly connected the community surrounding the building on Avenue of the Americas at 10th Street, helping to put the concept of village back in Greenwich Village; it serves as a powerful, an hourly, reminder of the values of architectural preservation." [13]

There are annual tours of the tower, typically during Open House New York weekend in October.[ citation needed ]

The main entrance to the Jefferson Market Library Jefferson Market Library at golden hour.jpg
The main entrance to the Jefferson Market Library

By 2012 the building's exterior was once again in need of restoration, deteriorated ornaments were re-sculpted from the original Ohio sandstone. The tower's railings and finial were repaired and resecured. Missing and broken slates were replaced on the slate roof and a new copper drainage system installed. Brick and stone were re-pointed and cleaned. SUPERSTRUCTURES Engineers + Architects led the restoration. The owners and project team were honored by the New York Landmarks Conservancy with its Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award in 2014.[ citation needed ]

The building had further improvements in 2019 to bring it in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. [14] It reopened in July 2022. [15] [16]

The library manager is Frank Collerius who also presents the New York Public Library's podcast The Librarian Is In. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

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

Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village also contains several subsections, including the West Village west of Seventh Avenue and the Meatpacking District in the northwest corner of Greenwich Village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meatpacking District, Manhattan</span> United States historic place

The Meatpacking District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan that runs from West 14th Street south to Gansevoort Street, and from the Hudson River east to Hudson Street. The Meatpacking Business Improvement District along with signage in the area, extend these borders farther north to West 17th Street, east to Eighth Avenue, and south to Horatio Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthology Film Archives</span> Center for film preservation in Manhattan, New York

Anthology Film Archives is an international center for the preservation, study, and exhibition of film and video, with a particular focus on independent, experimental, and avant-garde cinema. The film archive and theater is located at 32 Second Avenue on the southeast corner of East 2nd Street, in a New York City historic district in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Tubby</span> American architect

William Bunker Tubby was an American architect who was particularly notable for his work in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegheny County Courthouse</span> Courthouse and jail complex in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.

The Allegheny County Courthouse in Downtown Pittsburgh, is part of a complex designed by H. H. Richardson. The buildings are considered among the finest examples of the Romanesque Revival style for which Richardson is well known.

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

The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The West Village is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and 14th Street to the north. The eastern boundary is variously cited as Greenwich Avenue, Seventh Avenue, or Sixth Avenue, while the southern boundary is either Houston Street or Christopher Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jefferson Market Prison</span> Former prison in New York City

The Jefferson Market Prison was a prison in New York City at 10 Greenwich Avenue that opened in 1877, together with the adjacent Third Judicial District Courthouse. Frederick Clarke Withers designed these twin buildings in an ornate American Gothic style. The landmark courthouse survived Jefferson Market's 1927 demolition and today serves as a New York Public Library branch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooklyn Borough Hall</span> Building in Brooklyn, New York

Brooklyn Borough Hall is a building in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. It was designed by architects Calvin Pollard and Gamaliel King in the Greek Revival style, and constructed of Tuckahoe marble under the supervision of superintendent Stephen Haynes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huntington Free Library and Reading Room</span>

The Huntington Free Library is a privately endowed library near Westchester Square in the New York City borough of the Bronx, which is open to the public. It has a non-circulating book collection.

Giorgio Cavaglieri was an Italian architect and a leading figure in the historic preservationist movement in New York City. He is best known for his 1960s restoration of the Jefferson Market Library in Greenwich Village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Clarke Withers</span> American architect

Frederick Clarke Withers was an English architect in America, especially renowned for his Gothic Revival ecclesiastical designs. For portions of his professional career, he partnered with fellow immigrant Calvert Vaux; both worked in the office of Andrew Jackson Downing in Newburgh, New York, where they began their careers following Downing's accidental death. Withers greatly participated in the introduction of the High Victorian Gothic style to the United States.

William Augustus Edwards, also known as William A. Edwards was an Atlanta-based American architect renowned for the educational buildings, courthouses and other public and private buildings that he designed in Florida, Georgia and his native South Carolina. More than 25 of his works have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margot Gayle</span> American historic preservationist

Margot McCoy Gayle was an American historic preservationist, activist, and writer. She led the effort to designate the SoHo Cast Iron Historic District, which preserved Victorian era cast-iron architecture in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church Street and Trinity Place</span> North-south street in Manhattan, New York

Church Street and Trinity Place form a single northbound roadway in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Its northern end is at Canal Street and its southern end is at Morris Street, where Trinity Place merges with Greenwich Street. The dividing point is Liberty Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation</span> Organization in New York City

Village Preservation is a nonprofit organization that advocates for the architectural preservation and cultural preservation and opposes housing development in several neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Founded in 1980, it has advocated for New York City designated landmark status for a variety of sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital</span> Historic buildings in Manhattan, New York

The Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital are a pair of historic buildings at 135 and 137 Second Avenue in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The buildings house the Ottendorfer Branch of the New York Public Library, as well as the women's workspace The Wing within the former Stuyvesant Polyclinic hospital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph C. Wells</span> American architect

Joseph Collins Wells (1814–1860) was an English-born architect who practiced in New York City from 1839 to 1860. He was a founding member of the American Institute of Architects, and several of his works have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Two of his works, the Henry C. Bowen House and the Jonathan Sturges House, have been designated as U.S. National Historic Landmarks. He also designed First Presbyterian Church, a New York City Landmark in Greenwich Village.

Ruth Wittenberg (1899-1990) was an American activist and historic preservationist who advocated for the preservation of historic buildings in New York City's Greenwich Village. She was a leading figure in the successful movement to designate Greenwich Village a historic district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbus Landmarks</span> Historic preservation foundation in Ohio

The Columbus Landmarks Foundation, known as Columbus Landmarks, is a nonprofit historic preservation organization in Columbus, Ohio. The foundation is best-known for its list of endangered sites in the city and its annual design award, given to buildings, landscapes, and other sites created or renovated in Columbus. It was established in 1977 as a project of the Junior League of Columbus, Ohio, following the demolition of the city's historic Union Station. It is headquartered at 57 Jefferson Avenue, a contributing structure in the Jefferson Avenue Historic District in Downtown Columbus.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 53–54. ISBN   978-0-470-28963-1.
  2. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 "Third Judicial District Courthouse". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 19, 2007. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. November 7, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 144. ISBN   978-0-19538-386-7.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Nevius, Michelle & Nevius, James (2009), Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City, New York: Free Press, ISBN   141658997X pp.135-136
  7. ↑ Huxtable, Ada Louise (September 10, 1961). "To Keep the Best of New York". The New York Times .
  8. 1 2 Siegal, Allan M. (October 11, 1974). "Staff Cuts Forcing 3 Library Closings". The New York Times. ProQuest   119957639.
  9. ↑ Gold, Joyce. From Trout Stream to Bohemia: A Walking Guide to Greenwich Village History 1988:89.
  10. ↑ Ide, Reed (November 12, 1974). "Jefferson Library: We Won This Round But The Struggle Is Far From Over". The Villager.
  11. ↑ Carolyn Pitts (May 24, 1977). "Third Judicial District Courthouse (Jefferson Market Courthouse)". National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination. National Park Service.
  12. ↑ "Third Judicial District Courthouse (Jefferson Market Courthouse)--Accompanying photos and drawing, exterior and interior, from c.1880 and undated". National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination (photos). National Park Service. May 24, 1977.
  13. ↑ Frank, Michael. "Old Bell Regains Its Voice and a Community Resounds" The New York Times (April 11, 1997)
  14. ↑ "Jefferson Market Library Gets ADA Rehab". WESTVIEW NEWS. June 7, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  15. ↑ "The New York Public Library's Jefferson Market Branch Reopens Following Significant Improvements to Historic Building". The New York Public Library. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  16. ↑ Ginsburg, Aaron (July 15, 2022). "NYPL's historic Jefferson Market branch in Greenwich Village reopens after $10M overhaul". 6sqft. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  17. ↑ "You Can't Always Get What You Want: The Librarian Is In Podcast, Ep. 98". The New York Public Library. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.