Bleecker Street Highlights from the Susan De Vries Collections
In 1995, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) asked Village Preservation (then known as the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation) to conduct a photo survey of Federal-era buildings of Lower Manhattan based on a list they provided.
The survey ended up being a sprawling project that extended well beyond the original scope of what the LPC requested, and lasted several years. One street that’s well represented in the survey is Bleecker Street. Today we explore some of the photos of houses on that street from that survey taken by Susan De Vries. Susan has been active in the preservation field for over two decades. Early in her career, from 1994 to 1996, she worked for Village Preservation as a research associate intern, before becoming a staff member and working for the organization until 1999. After 1995, Susan continued to work on photographing and researching the buildings as part of her thesis work, and expanded the project beyond the original list provided by LPC.
Images from the survey can be found in three collections in our historic image archive — Susan De Vries —Federal Rowhouses in Lower Manhattan Collection Part I, Susan De Vries — Architecture Part I Collection, and Susan De Vries — Federal Rowhouses in Lower Manhattan and Architecture Collection Part II.
269 Bleecker Street
Constructed c. 1835-1836, this house was landmarked as part of the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension II which Village Preservation Advocated for in 2010.
According to the designation report, this altered Federal/Italianate style building was one of four small houses on the north side of the street on this block constructed for Charles Oakley. By the 1850s, like many of the buildings in the area, it was converted to mixed use — residential and commercial. Originally two stories tall, the house was raised to three stories around 1868. Since 1973, it has been the home of the Neighborhood Church. In 1998, prior to being designated a landmark, the church altered the storefront and did other external repairs.
266 Bleecker Street
This ca. 1833 house was landmarked as part of the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension II (South Village) proposed by Village Preservation in 2010. Through Village Preservation’s efforts, it was also listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2013.
266 Bleecker Street was constructed as the third in a row of five houses on the south side of the street on this block, also built by developer Charles Oakley. An excellent example of the late Federal style, this row of houses was built at a time when this section of Greenwich Village was becoming a desirable residential district for middle and upper-class New Yorkers. Many of the buildings on Bleecker Street housed a mix of residential and commercial uses from a relatively early date. In 1851, boot maker Robert Juell was listed as a tenant. It appears that in 1879 the house was altered for commercial use on the ground story. Later commercial tenants included the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (1929), the Dominick Equipment Co. (glassware dealers) (1950), and a laundromat (1980s). The building remains largely unchanged today.
145 Bleecker Street
Constructed c. 1831, this house was landmarked as part of the South Village Historic District which Village Preservation advocated for in 2013.
As per the South Village Historic District Designation Report, this building was originally known by the address 6 Carroll Place. It was built around 1831 for developer
Thomas E. Davis as part of a group of fifteen row houses occupying both sides of Bleecker Street between Thompson Street and LaGuardia Place. This and the other buildings on the north side of the street originally had a heavy Greek Revival-style entrance enframement with fluted columns and entablature with wreath ornament, as well as parlor-floor iron balconette, simple modillioned cornice, and roof-top balustrade.
You can more photos of Bleecker Street from this collection here, and search our Historic Image Archive map here to see images from across all of our collections.