Daytonian in Greenwich Village
This is one in a series of posts marking the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click here to check out our year-long activities and celebrations.
On April 29th, 2019, we launched our new interactive map, Greenwich Village Historic District, 1969-2019: Photos and Tours, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Greenwich Village Historic District. In the months since we have been expanding the map, both adding new tours and adding new entries to existing tours. In addition to showing images of every one of the over 2,200 buildings in the Greenwich Village Historic District as they looked in 1969 and today, we now have over 800 sites that appear on various tours exploring the architecture, history, and culture of New York City’s largest historic district.
One particular set of recent additions appears on our “Daytonian in Manhattan” tour, a tour of sites in the Greenwich Village Historic District from the blog ‘Daytonian in Manhattan’ by author and historian Tom Miller. The Daytonian blog provides thoroughly-researched and in-depth accounts of the histories of buildings and monuments throughout Manhattan (just go to www.gvshp.org/GVHD50tour and click on the links for this and other tours). Here are some of the highlights of the new additions:
The 1839 Wm. T. Whittemore House – 181 West 10th Street
In 1833, William T. Whittemore began construction of nine Greek Revival-style residences on the site of his father’s former factory. Five fronted West 10th Street and four fronted West 4th Street. Today, No. 181 is the sole survivor along West 10th Street; the others were demolished with the extension of Seventh Avenue in 1913. No. 181 survived almost intact — it lost its corner. Lots of drama took place here over the years, from lawsuits to theatrical impresarios to “religious mania.” Go to the tour for more details.
The 1842 House That Was Jack Delaney’s Restaurant – 72 Grove Street
Built in 1842, this minimally adorned Greek Revival row house housed a commercial first floor since the 1870s. Starting in 1936 it was leased by Jack Delaney, who opened his eponymous restaurant here. It became a popular destination for the many writers, poets, and musicians who made Greenwich Village their home at that time. Both Frank O’Hara and Jack Kerouac mentioned the restaurant in their writings. Get the full story on our tour.
The Pierre Ouvrier House – 247 West 13th Street
Built in 1854, this was the relatively rare 19th century product of a female real estate developer. By 1872, a piano-making couple from France were living here with their children, but piano-making took a back seat when they got embroiled in a Tammany Hall murder trial. In later years the 247 west 13th Street became a boarding house; one of those boarders was the photographer Lisette Model. Learn more about the building’s winding history on our tour.
The Greenwich Village Historic District Tour Map, and the Daytonian
This is just a taste of just some of the recent additions to our Greenwich Village Historic District Map’s Daytonian Tour, as well as just some of the overall recent additions to the map. Its development is an ongoing labor of love, and these storied, historic buildings are now in the company of nearly a thousand other entries. Explore the rest of the “Daytonian in Manhattan” tour for all of the spots located in the Greenwich Village Historic District written about by expert researcher and architectural historian Tom Miller in his blog Daytonian in Manhattan (Tom hails from Dayton, Ohio originally).
Visit the map here.
Our current tours include:
- Immigration Landmarks
- Course of History Changed
- Transformative Women
- Most Charming Spots
- Social Change Champions
- Artists’ Homes
- Churches
- Homes and Haunts of Great Writers
- Theaters
- Houses with Dormers
- Buildings Designed by George Frederick Pelham
- Street Name Origins
- Edward Hopper’s Greenwich Village
- Mid-Century Modern
- Music Venues
- African-American History
- LGBTQ Sites
- Pineapples, Pinecones, and Acorns of the Village
- Musicians’ Homes
- Movie and TV Show Locations
- Wood Frame Houses
- Buildings Designed by Emery Roth (& Sons)
- Little Flatirons of the Village
- Homes of Preservationists
- Daytonian in Manhattan
- Firehouses
- Jewish History