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Lincoln Arcade
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Lincoln Arcade
The Lincoln Arcade was a commercial building near Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, just west of Central Park. Built in 1903, it was viewed by contemporaries as a sign of the northward extension of business-oriented real estate ventures, and the shops, offices, and other enterprises.
Soon after it opened, however, the building was becoming known for some considerably less conventional residents. One observer styled some of these newcomers as "starving students, musicians, actors, dead-beat journalists, nondescript authors, tarts, polite swindlers, and fugitives from injustice." Many others were aspiring artists. Most of these men and women received little attention from the public either during their lives or since their deaths, but some, such as George Bellows, Thomas Hart Benton, Stuart Davis, Marcel Duchamp, Eugene O'Neill, and Lionel Barrymore, became famous. The Lincoln Arcade was destroyed in 1960.
In the late 1700s the western part of Manhattan where the building would be constructed was known as Bloemendaal or Blooming Dale, the valley of flowers, where could be found large farms. In the early 1800s the city expanded its street network north to the district and the farms that originally dominated the area were broken up into lots that were held as investments. Through inheritance, the location where the Lincoln Arcade would later be built was transferred from the original farm owner, John Somerindyke, to the widow of one of his sons, Abigail Thorn, in 1809. Subsequent owners were John H. Talman, John G. Gottsberger, and Thomas S. Cargill. The three were businessmen who held the property along with other real estate investments.
In 1889 the city required each block in that grid to be given a number for administrative purposes. The block number for the location where the Lincoln Arcade would be erected is shown as 1137 in the Manhattan Atlas of 1891 and the block retains that number to this day.
In 1819-20 commissioners named by the state government laid out the street grid for streets, avenues, and the blocks they created. An atlas published in 1868 shows the farms of 1815 overlaid by the 1819-20 grid and atlases published subsequently show the gradual expansion of building construction northward from downtown Manhattan. An 1879 atlas shows lots laid out in the location where the Lincoln Arcade would be built but no buildings put up on them. The atlas published in 1891 shows structures in five of the eight lots in the eventual Lincoln Arcade location. Three had two stories, the other two had one, and they were made of brick. In both editions of the Atlas, John G. Gottsberger is shown as the landowner. Atlases published in 1892 and 1897 show no change but give some detail: At the corner of West 65th Street and Broadway (then called the Boulevard) there were two one-story buildings, one a warehouse, and one two-story commercial building. Near the corner of West 66th Street and the Boulevard there was another two-story warehouse, a coal yard, and, outside the area where the Lincoln Arcade would be erected, a five-story commercial building.
In the late 1890s the land and its few structures became increasingly valuable as investors sought property near what had by then become a transportation hub. Real estate brokers bought and sold buildings and lots in the location of the future Lincoln Arcade and in 1900 a man named John L. Miller began to assemble the holdings on which he would construct that building.
After purchasing some of the property he filed plans to build a four-story brick commercial building on the site, but did not follow through on those plans and instead purchased adjoining lots until he owned nearly the entire block front on Broadway and much of the block at 65th Street near Broadway.
With the property in hand, Miller filed plans to construct what he called the Broadway Arcade. The plans described two buildings of offices and stores situated side-by-side, facing Broadway. The architect was Julius Munckwitz and the expected cost was $215,000. As construction neared completion, a news piece cited it as the keystone of developers' hopes for business-oriented real estate in the vicinity (an area they were now calling "Empire Square"). The article quoted Miller as saying, "I am proving what I think of Empire Square by putting $300,000 in it. We expect to have the Arcade ready by May 1 and already we have rented half the space. I am more than gratified at the outlook. If things pan out as I expect them to, I intend to erect a theatre in the rear of the Broadway Arcade on a plot of six lots I own." An atlas published in 1907 gives a fire insurance perspective on the Arcade. It shows the two buildings, each having six stories, joined by the one-story arcade. Above the arcade, the two structures are connected by a stack of enclosed bridges. At the back of the arcade there is a pair of elevators. In 1916 the New York Times published the sketch of this composite building which can be seen at right. Depicting it as it appeared when new, the sketch shows the pair of buildings and between them an un-roofed alley.
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Lincoln Arcade
The Lincoln Arcade was a commercial building near Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, just west of Central Park. Built in 1903, it was viewed by contemporaries as a sign of the northward extension of business-oriented real estate ventures, and the shops, offices, and other enterprises.
Soon after it opened, however, the building was becoming known for some considerably less conventional residents. One observer styled some of these newcomers as "starving students, musicians, actors, dead-beat journalists, nondescript authors, tarts, polite swindlers, and fugitives from injustice." Many others were aspiring artists. Most of these men and women received little attention from the public either during their lives or since their deaths, but some, such as George Bellows, Thomas Hart Benton, Stuart Davis, Marcel Duchamp, Eugene O'Neill, and Lionel Barrymore, became famous. The Lincoln Arcade was destroyed in 1960.
In the late 1700s the western part of Manhattan where the building would be constructed was known as Bloemendaal or Blooming Dale, the valley of flowers, where could be found large farms. In the early 1800s the city expanded its street network north to the district and the farms that originally dominated the area were broken up into lots that were held as investments. Through inheritance, the location where the Lincoln Arcade would later be built was transferred from the original farm owner, John Somerindyke, to the widow of one of his sons, Abigail Thorn, in 1809. Subsequent owners were John H. Talman, John G. Gottsberger, and Thomas S. Cargill. The three were businessmen who held the property along with other real estate investments.
In 1889 the city required each block in that grid to be given a number for administrative purposes. The block number for the location where the Lincoln Arcade would be erected is shown as 1137 in the Manhattan Atlas of 1891 and the block retains that number to this day.
In 1819-20 commissioners named by the state government laid out the street grid for streets, avenues, and the blocks they created. An atlas published in 1868 shows the farms of 1815 overlaid by the 1819-20 grid and atlases published subsequently show the gradual expansion of building construction northward from downtown Manhattan. An 1879 atlas shows lots laid out in the location where the Lincoln Arcade would be built but no buildings put up on them. The atlas published in 1891 shows structures in five of the eight lots in the eventual Lincoln Arcade location. Three had two stories, the other two had one, and they were made of brick. In both editions of the Atlas, John G. Gottsberger is shown as the landowner. Atlases published in 1892 and 1897 show no change but give some detail: At the corner of West 65th Street and Broadway (then called the Boulevard) there were two one-story buildings, one a warehouse, and one two-story commercial building. Near the corner of West 66th Street and the Boulevard there was another two-story warehouse, a coal yard, and, outside the area where the Lincoln Arcade would be erected, a five-story commercial building.
In the late 1890s the land and its few structures became increasingly valuable as investors sought property near what had by then become a transportation hub. Real estate brokers bought and sold buildings and lots in the location of the future Lincoln Arcade and in 1900 a man named John L. Miller began to assemble the holdings on which he would construct that building.
After purchasing some of the property he filed plans to build a four-story brick commercial building on the site, but did not follow through on those plans and instead purchased adjoining lots until he owned nearly the entire block front on Broadway and much of the block at 65th Street near Broadway.
With the property in hand, Miller filed plans to construct what he called the Broadway Arcade. The plans described two buildings of offices and stores situated side-by-side, facing Broadway. The architect was Julius Munckwitz and the expected cost was $215,000. As construction neared completion, a news piece cited it as the keystone of developers' hopes for business-oriented real estate in the vicinity (an area they were now calling "Empire Square"). The article quoted Miller as saying, "I am proving what I think of Empire Square by putting $300,000 in it. We expect to have the Arcade ready by May 1 and already we have rented half the space. I am more than gratified at the outlook. If things pan out as I expect them to, I intend to erect a theatre in the rear of the Broadway Arcade on a plot of six lots I own." An atlas published in 1907 gives a fire insurance perspective on the Arcade. It shows the two buildings, each having six stories, joined by the one-story arcade. Above the arcade, the two structures are connected by a stack of enclosed bridges. At the back of the arcade there is a pair of elevators. In 1916 the New York Times published the sketch of this composite building which can be seen at right. Depicting it as it appeared when new, the sketch shows the pair of buildings and between them an un-roofed alley.