Studebaker Building (Columbia University)

Last updated
Studebaker Building in Manhattanville, New York City Studebaker W130 fr RSD viaduct jeh.jpg
Studebaker Building in Manhattanville, New York City

The Studebaker Building is located at 615 West 131st Street, between Broadway and 12th Avenue, and between 131st and 132nd Streets, in the Manhattanville section of the Upper West Side in New York City. [1] It is in the northeast quadrant of the Manhattanville Campus of Columbia University. [2] It is near the New York City Subway and several local bus routes. [2] It is one of three historic buildings to have survived in the university's Manhattanville expansion, the others being Prentis Hall and the Nash Building. [3]

The former Studebaker automobile finishing plant, complete with a freight elevator, was constructed in 1923. [4] It is constructed largely of brick with a decorative white porcelain trim, is 6 stories tall, has a plot size of 175 feet by 200 feet, and has 210,000 square feet of floorspace. The blue Studebaker logo used between 1912 and 1934 is still visible on the southwest corner near the top. [5] Originally built as a finishing plant, it was later used to store and distribute cars and parts manufactured in South Bend, Indiana, as a sales and services headquarters for the company. [6] [7]

Studebaker sold the building due to declining profits to the Borden Milk Company in 1937, which used it as a milk processing plant. [8] [9] Later it was home to various warehouses (e.g. for the American Museum of Natural History), offices, and small manufacturing facilities such as the Madame Alexander doll company and Scientific Prototypes which manufactured sirens for every NYPD police vehicle from 1979 until 1989. [2] In the late 1980s, Columbia University began to rent office space there, and subsequently bought the building. [10]

In 2007, most of the Finance department for the University, including the Student Financial Services department, moved to the Studebaker Building from the historic Kent Hall. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Studebaker</span> Defunct car manufacturer

Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the firm was originally a coachbuilder, manufacturing wagons, buggies, carriages and harnesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manhattanville College</span> Private university in Purchase, New York, U.S.

Manhattanville College is a private university in Purchase, New York. Founded in 1841 at 412 Houston Street in Lower Manhattan, the college was initially known as Academy of the Sacred Heart, then after 1847 as Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart. In 1917, the academy received a charter from the Regents of the State of New York to raise the school officially to a collegiate level granting degrees as the College of the Sacred Heart. In 1952 it moved to its current location in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, a suburb north of New York City. Purchase is inside the town and village of Harrison in Westchester County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Piquette Avenue Plant</span> Former car factory and National Historic Landmark in Detroit, Michigan

The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant is a former factory located within the Milwaukee Junction area of Detroit, Michigan, in the United States. Built in 1904, it was the second center of automobile production for the Ford Motor Company, after the Ford Mack Avenue Plant. At the Piquette Avenue Plant, the company created and first produced the Ford Model T, the car credited with initiating the mass use of automobiles in the United States. Prior to the Model T, several other car models were assembled at the factory. Early experiments using a moving assembly line to make cars were also conducted there. It was also the first factory where more than 100 cars were assembled in one day. While it was headquartered at the Piquette Avenue Plant, Ford Motor Company became the biggest U.S.-based automaker, and it would remain so until the mid-1920s. The factory was used by the company until 1910, when its car production activity was relocated to the new, bigger Highland Park Ford Plant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">125th Street (Manhattan)</span> West-east street in Manhattan, New York

125th Street, co-named Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, is a two-way street that runs east–west in the New York City borough of Manhattan, from First Avenue on the east to Marginal Street, a service road for the Henry Hudson Parkway along the Hudson River in the west. It is often considered to be the "Main Street" of Harlem.

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

Manhattanville is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan bordered on the north by 135th Street; on the south by 122nd and 125th Streets; on the west by Hudson River; and on the east by Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and the campus of City College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Jay Hall</span> Dormitory at Columbia University

John Jay Hall is a 15-story building located on the southeastern extremity of the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in New York City, on the northwestern corner of 114th St. and Amsterdam Avenue. Named for Founding Father, The Federalist Papers author, diplomat, and first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court John Jay, it was among the last buildings designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, which had provided Columbia's original Morningside Heights campus plan, and was finished in 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hartley Hall</span> Columbia University dormitory

Hartley Hall was the first official residence hall constructed on the campus of Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus, and houses undergraduate students from Columbia College as well as the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. The building is named for Columbia alumnus Marcellus Hartley Dodge, who donated $300,000 for its construction shortly after his graduation. The building was meant as a memorial to his grandfather, Marcellus Hartley, the owner of Remington Arms, who died during Dodge's sophomore year and who bequeathed him the family fortune. Dodge hoped to create “the commencement of a true dormitory system" at Columbia.

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

Wallach Hall is the second oldest residence hall on the campus of Columbia University, and currently houses undergraduate students from Columbia College as well as the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.

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

Carman Hall is a dormitory located on Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus and currently houses first-year students from Columbia College as well as the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The School at Columbia University</span> Coeducational private school in New York City, New York, Manhattan, United States

The School at Columbia University, also called TSC or The School, is a private K-8 school affiliated with Columbia University. Students are drawn equally from the Morningside Heights, Manhattan/Upper West Side/Harlem community and from the faculty and staff of the university. Currently there are three divisions: Primary (K-2), Intermediate (3-5) and Middle (6-8). Each division has its own Division Head and there is one Head of School. It is located at 110th Street and Broadway in the New York City borough of Manhattan.

The Studebaker Building is a former structure at 1600 Broadway on the northeast corner at 48th Street in Manhattan, New York City. It was erected by the Juilliard Estate, in 1902, between Broadway and 7th Avenue, in the area north of Times Square. It was demolished in 2004 to make room for an apartment tower, a twenty- five story, 136 unit, luxury condominium designed by architect Einhorn Yaffee Prescott.

Studebaker Building may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District is a historic district located along Piquette Street in Detroit, Michigan, from Woodward Avenue on the west to Hastings Street on the east. The district extends approximately one block south of Piquette to Harper, and one block north to the Grand Trunk Western Railroad Line. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Joseph of the Holy Family Church (New York City)</span> Building in New York City, United States of America

The Church of St. Joseph of the Holy Family is a Black Catholic parish church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 401 West 125th Street at Morningside Avenue in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is the oldest existing church in Harlem and above 44th Street in Manhattan. On June 28, 2016, it was designated a New York City Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheffield Farms Stable</span> United States historic place

Sheffield Farms Stable was a historic stable located in Manhattanville, Manhattan, New York. Designed by Frank A. Rooke, it was a six-story, light colored brick building with terracotta ornament. It was originally built in 1903 as a two-story stable building for the Sheffield Farms dairy, then expanded to its present size in 1909. It housed horses used for the delivery of pasteurized milk until July 1938. It was sold in 1942, after which it housed a real estate company, insurance company, and warehouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of the Annunciation (New York City)</span> Catholic Church in New York, United States of America

The Church of the Annunciation is a Roman Catholic parish church, located in Manhattanville/West Harlem in Manhattan. Founded in 1853, it is a parish of the Archdiocese of New York under the pastoral care of the Piarist Fathers The church is located at 88 Convent Avenue. Annunciation School is located at 461 West 131st Street but was closed in 2014. The pastor is the Rev. Orlando Rodriguez, Sch.P.

Annunciation School was a co-educational Roman Catholic elementary school established in 1852 as a school for boys. It was part of Annunciation Church parish in the Archdiocese of New York. The school building, which was dedicated in 1907, is located at 461 West 131st Street in New York City's area of Manhattanville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank A. Rooke</span> American architect (1904 - 1946)

Frank Aydelott Rooke, known professionally as Frank A. Rooke, was a New York architect who designed the historic Claremont Riding Academy and numerous other structures of significance that are either in National Historic Districts or listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the tri-state area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schermerhorn Hall</span> Academic building at Columbia University

Schermerhorn Hall is an academic building on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University located at 1190 Amsterdam Avenue, New York City, United States. Schermerhorn was built in 1897 with a $300,000 gift from alumnus and trustee William Colford Schermerhorn. It was designed by McKim, Mead & White, and was originally intended to house the "natural sciences". During the early 20th century, it was used for studying botany, geology, physics, mechanics, and astronomy. The inscription above the doorway reads, "For the advancement of natural science. Speak to the earth and it shall teach thee." Today, Schermerhorn Hall houses the Departments of Art History and Archeology, Earth and Environmental Science, and Psychology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prentis Hall</span> Historic building at Columbia University

Prentis Hall is a historic building located on the Manhattanville campus of Columbia University at 632 West 125th Street. It houses the university's department of music and the Computer Music Center, as well as facilities for the School of the Arts. It is one of three historic buildings that survived in the university's Manhattanville plan, the others being the Studebaker Building and the Nash Building.

References

  1. "The Studebaker Building". Michael Minn. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Columbia University: Working in Studebaker". cuf.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  3. Kensinger, Nathan (2018-03-08). "As Columbia University moves into Manhattanville, its industrial past is erased". Curbed NY. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  4. "Columbia University: Working in Studebaker". cuf.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  5. Quinteros, Luis. "New York City's Forgotten Auto Plant". Jalopnik. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  6. Minn, Michael. "The Studebaker Building". michaelminn.net. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  7. "Historic Resources" (PDF). www1.nyc.gov. November 16, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  8. Christopher Gray (January 13, 2008). "Vanished City Industry Uncovered in Land Fight". New York Times. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  9. "The Studebaker Building". cuf.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  10. Bagli, Charles V. (2003-07-30). "Columbia, in a Growth Spurt, Is Buying a Swath of Harlem". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-07-18.

40°49′06.9″N73°57′27.4″W / 40.818583°N 73.957611°W / 40.818583; -73.957611