Windsor Hotel (Manhattan)

Last updated
Windsor Hotel
Windsor Hotel Manhattan 1899 1.jpg
Windsor Hotel, before 1899
Windsor Hotel (Manhattan)
General information
Location Manhattan, New York City
Opened1873
Demolished1899

The Windsor Hotel was located at 575 Fifth Avenue (at the corner of East 47th Street) in Manhattan, New York. The seven-story hotel opened in 1873, [1] at a time when hotel residency was becoming popular with the wealthy, and was advertised as "the most comfortable and homelike hotel in New York." [2] [3] It burned down in 1899 with great loss of life.

Contents

Fire

Monument to unidentified fire victims in Kensico Cemetery WindsorFireGraveLarge.JPG
Monument to unidentified fire victims in Kensico Cemetery
Windsor arcade in 1902, on right The Sunday parade, Fifth Avenue LCCN2007661234.tif
Windsor arcade in 1902, on right

On St Patrick's Day 1899, while people were gathered below to watch the parade, a fire destroyed the hotel within 90 minutes. [4] Supposedly the fire started when someone threw an unextinguished match out of a second-floor window and the wind blew it against the lace curtains. [5] [6]

Dora Duncan, leading a dance class in the hotel at the time, managed to get her students, including her daughter, Isadora, to safety. [4] Abner McKinley, President McKinley's brother, who was outside when the alarm was raised, dashed in and rescued his wife and handicapped daughter. [6]

Firemen, some of them still in their dress uniforms from the parade, [5] [7] made heroic rescues, but they were hampered by the crowds; the fire moved too fast for them to reach every window with ladders, and water pressure was inadequate. [2] [8] Almost 90 people died (estimates vary), with numerous bodies landing on the pavement; some people fell when escape ropes burned their hands, [2] while some jumped in preference to being burned alive. [9] The operator of the hotel, Warren F. Leland, was unable to identify his 20-year-old daughter, Helen, who had jumped from the 6th floor. [2] [4] [10]

The following day The New York Times featured the headlines "Windsor Hotel Lies in Ashes" and "The Hotel a Fire Trap." [5] [11] The fire commissioner, Hugh Bonner, blamed the construction of the hotel for the rapid spread of the fire: it did not have the cross walls that by 1899 were required by law. [12] According to some reports, the fire escapes soon became too hot to use; [5] [7] other accounts state that there were none. [13] [14] The Windsor Hotel fire was the inspiration for John Kenlon, who later became fire chief but was a lieutenant in 1899, to become one of the most forceful advocates of a high-pressure hydrant system in New York, which was finally installed in 1907. [8]

Aftermath

The bodies of 31 of the unidentified victims were buried in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. A monument to them was dedicated on October 9, 2014. [15]

For a few months after the fire, the landowner, Elbridge Gerry, rented the site for billboards. In 1901, he built the Windsor Arcade, an ornamental building of luxury shops. It was torn down in the 1910s; the buildings that replaced it have also been demolished. [4] [16] The two high-rises now occupying the site, at 565 and 575 Fifth Avenue, [17] have no plaque or marker for the tragedy. [2] [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flatiron Building</span> Historic triangular office skyscraper in Manhattan, New York

The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a triangular 22-story, 285-foot-tall (86.9 m) steel-framed landmarked building at 175 Fifth Avenue in the eponymous Flatiron District neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Daniel Burnham and Frederick P. Dinkelberg, and known its early days as "Burnham's Folly", it was completed in 1902 and originally included 20 floors. The building sits on a triangular block formed by Fifth Avenue, Broadway, and East 22nd Street—where the building's 87-foot (27 m) back end is located—with East 23rd Street grazing the triangle's northern (uptown) peak. The name "Flatiron" derives from its triangular shape, which recalls that of a cast-iron clothes iron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Janeway Hardenbergh</span> American architect (1847 - 1918)

Henry Janeway Hardenbergh FAIA was an American architect, best known for his hotels and apartment buildings, and as a "master of a new building form — the skyscraper."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madison Square and Madison Square Park</span> Public square and park in Manhattan, New York City

Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, fourth President of the United States. The focus of the square is Madison Square Park, a 6.2-acre (2.5-hectare) public park, which is bounded on the east by Madison Avenue ; on the south by 23rd Street; on the north by 26th Street; and on the west by Fifth Avenue and Broadway as they cross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Ansonia</span> Residential condominium in Manhattan, New York

The Ansonia is a condominium building at 2109 Broadway, between 73rd and 74th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The 17-story structure was designed by French architect Paul Emile Duboy in the Beaux-Arts style. It was built between 1899 and 1903 as a residential hotel by William Earle Dodge Stokes, who named it after his grandfather, the industrialist Anson Greene Phelps. Over the years, the Ansonia has housed many conductors, opera singers, baseball players, and other famous and wealthy people. The Ansonia is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astor House</span> Former hotel in Manhattan, New York

The Astor House was a luxury hotel in New York City. Located on the corner of Broadway and Vesey Street in what is now the Civic Center and Tribeca neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan, it opened in 1836 and soon became the best-known hotel in America. Part of it was demolished in 1913; the rest in 1926.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry F. Sinclair House</span> Mansion in Manhattan, New York City

The Harry F. Sinclair House is a mansion at the southeast corner of East 79th Street and Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The house was built between 1897 and 1899. Over the first half of the 20th century, the house was successively the residence of businessmen Isaac D. Fletcher and Harry F. Sinclair, and then the descendants of Peter Stuyvesant, the last Director of New Netherland. The Ukrainian Institute of America acquired the home in 1955. After the house gradually fell into disrepair, the institute renovated the building in the 1990s. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">712 Fifth Avenue</span> Office skyscraper in Manhattan, New York

712 Fifth Avenue is a 650-foot-tall (200 m) skyscraper at 56th Street and Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Constructed from 1987 to 1990, it was designed by SLCE Architects and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. The skyscraper's base includes the Coty Building at 714 Fifth Avenue and the Rizzoli Bookstore building at 712 Fifth Avenue, both of which are New York City designated landmarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parker Building (New York City)</span>

The Parker Building was a 12-story office and loft structure completed in 1900 at the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and 19th Street, in Manhattan, New York City. The edifice occupied ground which was formerly the site of the Gettysburg Cyclorama structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin N. Duke House</span> Historic house in Manhattan, New York

The Benjamin N. Duke House, also the Duke–Semans Mansion and the Benjamin N. and Sarah Duke House, is a mansion at 1009 Fifth Avenue, at the southeast corner with 82nd Street, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was built between 1899 and 1901 and was designed by the firm of Welch, Smith & Provot. The house, along with three other mansions on the same block, was built speculatively by developers William W. Hall and Thomas M. Hall. The Benjamin N. Duke House is one of a few remaining private mansions along Fifth Avenue. It is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William H. Moore House</span> Commercial building in Manhattan, New York

The William H. Moore House, also known as the Stokes-Moore Mansion and 4 East 54th Street, is a commercial building in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is along 54th Street's southern sidewalk between Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue. The building was designed by McKim, Mead & White and constructed between 1898 and 1900 as a private residence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Peninsula New York</span> Hotel in Manhattan, New York

The Peninsula New York is a historic luxury hotel at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street in Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1905 as the Gotham Hotel, the structure was designed by Hiss and Weekes in the neo-classical style. The hotel is part of the Hong Kong–based Peninsula Hotels group, which is owned by Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels (HSH).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pabst Hotel</span> Demolished hotel in Manhattan, New York

The Pabst Hotel occupied the north side of 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City, between 7th Avenue and Broadway, in Longacre Square, from 1899 to 1902. It was demolished to make room for the new headquarters of The New York Times, for which Longacre Square was renamed Times Square.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">935–939 Broadway</span> Building in Manhattan, New York City

935–939 Broadway is a six-story Italianate brownstone structure designed by the architect Griffith Thomas in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">390 Fifth Avenue</span> Historic building in Manhattan, New York

390 Fifth Avenue, also known as the Gorham Building, is an Italian Renaissance Revival palazzo-style building at Fifth Avenue and West 36th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It was designed by McKim, Mead & White, with Stanford White as the partner in charge, and built in 1904–1906. The building was named for the Gorham Manufacturing Company, a major manufacturer of sterling and silverplate, and was a successor to the former Gorham Manufacturing Company Building at 889 Broadway. The building features bronze ornamentation and a copper cornice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenwich Savings Bank Building</span> Historic bank building in Manhattan, New York

The Greenwich Savings Bank Building, also known as the Haier Building and 1356 Broadway, is an office building at 1352–1362 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Constructed as the headquarters of the Greenwich Savings Bank from 1922 to 1924, it occupies a trapezoidal parcel bounded by 36th Street to the south, Sixth Avenue to the east, and Broadway to the west. The Greenwich Savings Bank Building was designed in the Classical Revival style by York and Sawyer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">10 West 56th Street</span> Building in Manhattan, New York

10 West 56th Street is a commercial building in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is along 56th Street's southern sidewalk between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. The six-story building was designed by Warren and Wetmore in the French Renaissance Revival style. It was constructed in 1901 as a private residence, one of several on 56th Street's "Bankers' Row".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">12 West 56th Street</span> Building in Manhattan, New York

12 West 56th Street is a consular building in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, housing the Consulate General of Argentina in New York City. It is along 56th Street's southern sidewalk between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. The four-and-a-half story building was designed by McKim, Mead & White in the Georgian Revival style. It was constructed between 1899 and 1901 as a private residence, one of several on 56th Street's "Bankers' Row".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryant Park Studios</span> Office building in Manhattan, New York

The Bryant Park Studios is an office building at 80 West 40th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, at the corner of 40th Street and Sixth Avenue. The building, overlooking the southwest corner of Bryant Park, was designed by Charles A. Rich in the French Beaux-Arts style. Built from 1900 to 1901 by Abraham A. Anderson, the building is one of several in Manhattan that were built in the early 20th century as both studios and residences for artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4 Park Avenue</span> Building in Manhattan, New York

4 Park Avenue is a 22-story building in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Warren and Wetmore, the structure was built for Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt and opened in 1912 as a hotel. It is along the west side of Park Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets. Following a renovation by Schuman, Lichtenstein & Claman between 1965 and 1967, the top 18 stories have been used as residential apartments. The lowest three stories above ground, as well as three basement levels, are used as commercial space and carry an alternate address of 6 Park Avenue. As of 2021, the building is owned by The Feil Organization.

References

  1. Friedman, Donald (2010). Historical Building Construction: Design, Materials, and Technology (second ed.). New York: Norton. ISBN   978-0-393-73268-9., p. 224.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Gray, Christopher (January 7, 2010). "A Day of Heroism and Horror". The New York Times .
  3. For a picture of the hotel in 1877, see Edward B Watson and Edmund Vincent Gillon, New York Then and Now: 83 Manhattan Sites Photographed in the Past and in the Present, New York: Dover, 1976, ISBN   0-486-23361-8, p. 62.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Gray, Christopher (Winter 2003). "Gotham Tragedy, Gotham Memory". City Journal .
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Windsor Hotel Lies in Ashes". The New York Times. March 18, 1899. p. 1. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  6. 1 2 Golway, Terry (2003). So Others Might Live: A History of New York's Bravest: The FDNY from 1700 to the Present. New York: Basic Books. ISBN   0-465-02741-5., p. 1900, based on The New York Times.
  7. 1 2 Golway,p. 1901.
  8. 1 2 Robinson, Henry Morton (November 1928). "John KenlonFire Fighter: How Modern Science Tames Smoke and Flames Is Revealed in the Amazing Experiences of New York City's Fearless Chief". Popular Science . pp. 36–38+. p. 38.
  9. In City Journal, Gray quotes The New York Times : "At the fourth floor, Amelia Paddock, who had come in from Irvington just for a day of shopping, 'held out her arms to the crowd, then raised her hands as if calling for mercy on her soul. Then she clambered to the window sill, poised for an instant, and leaped, while a smothered groan went up from the crowd.'"
  10. According to Appleton's Annual Cyclopaedia volume 4, p. 617, his wife was also killed and he died soon after, on April 4.
  11. Wermiel, Sara E (2003). "No Exit: The Rise and Demise of the Outside Fire Escape". Technology and Culture. 44 (2): 258–284. doi:10.1353/tech.2003.0097. JSTOR   25148107. S2CID   108961041.
  12. Golway, pp. 1901–02.
  13. "The New York Hotel Fire," The Speaker March 25, 1899, volume 19, p. 340.
  14. Robinson, pp. 37–38: "a veritable tinder box . . . no fire escapes, no standpipes, no fire buckets."
  15. Risinit, Michael (October 7, 2014). "Kensico Cemetery honors victims of NYC hotel fire". The Journal News.
  16. According to Watson and Gillon, p. 63, the 1921 S.W. Straus Building.
  17. "575 Fifth Avenue". Emporis. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012.

Coordinates: 40°45′22.6″N73°58′42.5″W / 40.756278°N 73.978472°W / 40.756278; -73.978472