SoHo and its Historical Architecture
From The Peopling of NYC
Architecture of SoHo...Cast-Iron Landmarks
Before it officially became known as SoHo, different people called it many different things. Because of its low buildings among New York City’s surrounding skyscrapers it was called “The Valley of New York.” The Fire Department nicknamed it Hell’s Hundred Acres due to the area’s many unexpected devastating fires from societal negligence. The Landmark’s Preservation Committee called it the Cast-Iron District.
Nonetheless, no matter what its name, the beautiful architecture, built between 1850 and 1890, defines SoHo’s geography. The following are the most well known buildings in the SoHo Historic District:
 Arnold Constable House |
 Sweatshops in Cast Iron |
 Cast Iron as seen on Gunther |
 The Gunther Building |
Arnold Constable “Marble House”: Built from 1856 to 1865, this stone building is a good example of the kinds of buildings that were built in SoHo before the cast iron became so popular. It is brick on one side and has an Italian marble façade on the other. The round arched windows have very decorative keystones with Corinthian pilasters. The windows on the third through fifth floors have segmental arches. This building does have a simple cast-iron cornice to go along with its otherwise stone material.
Sweatshops and Cast Iron: From 1869 to 1880, Architect John B. Snook built the longest continuous row of iron-front buildings anywhere in the world. These are the ten buildings on the east side of Greene Street. Greene Street was named after the Revolutionary War hero General Nathanael Greene. On the other side of the street, a long range of sweat shops, mostly Chinese owned and employing Chinese immigrants even today, can be found. These sweat shops can actually be found discreetly throughout the entire neighborhood.
The Gunther Building: This huge building, on the southwest corner of Broome Street, was designed by Griffith Thomas and built by the Aetna Iron Works in 1871 to 1872. It was intended to be a warehouse but is now a residential building. Its architecture, remnants of ancient Greek ideas, is quite remarkable in that it has very unusual curved windowpanes bordered by columns of angled stones and rows of flat-arched windows. The pedestal blocks that stick out of the building once held up life-size statues covered in the furs that the warehouse was making. The most amazing thing is that each floor looks as though it is getting shorter.
Boehm & Coon: On Wooster Street, there is a seven-story building that used to serve as a warehouse. It is known as the first building to be converted into an artist’s loft in SoHo. In 1967, the owner started selling co-ops to artists. This procedure was not legal until 1971. Before that, this same building was home to Jonas Meka’s Filmmakers Cinematique and Richard Foreman’s Ontological Hysteric Theater. “Bishop’s Crook” Lamppost: This old lamppost has a French design and was designed in the 19th century as a way to give streetlight at night. It used real gas and had to be lit every night by candlelight. Highly inefficient and very heavy (weighing 835 pounds, this lamppost weighs twice as much as today’s modern aluminum posts) they were eventually replaced for electric ones. Nonetheless, this lamppost still stands today as a reminder of SoHo’s past.
“King of Greene Street:” This late 19th century building, designed by architect Isaac F. Duckworth. Its French Renaissance Style and the fact that it is probably the last elegant cast-iron building built in SoHo, gives it the title of “king” of the cast-iron district. It was completed in 1873 for the Gardner Colby Company.
 Cobblestone Greene Street |
Cheap labor.jpg
Ornate art made by cheap labor |
 Working hard in SoHo |
 The Famous Vesuvio Bakery |
The Oldest House in SoHo: On Mercer Street stands the oldest house in the area, built before 1808. Although not cast-iron, this building is a good example of the brick building work in SoHo in the early 19th century.
The “Little Singer Building:” Built in 1904 by architect Ernest Flagg, this building can be found on the southwest corner of Prince Street. It was erected for the Singer Manufacturing Company, which was a sewing company in New York. The building has a remarkable cast-iron front, each window is decorated with clay panels and plate glass. The stylish arches, balconies, and columns, support and adorn the 12 story building.
The St. Nicholas Hotel: The hotel was put up in 1854 and had 1000 beds in it. It was the second largest hotel in the area, Astor House in lower Broadway beating it to the top. Once a beautiful and luxurious building for the wealthy, the War Department of the Union Army turned the hotel into their personal headquarters during the Civil War. This, and the decline of SoHo’s real estate prices, forced St. Nicholas out of business in the 1870s.
Haughwout Building: Officially one of the first designated New York City Landmarks, the "Parthenon of Cast-Iron Architecture in America" is considered the most beautiful commercial cast iron building in the United States. It has a Venetian Renaissance palazzo design and was built in 1856 by John P. Gaynor to house businessman's Eder B. Haughwout's china and glassware goods. This building is also one of the first to have steam-drive passenger elevators. The Haughwout Building is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Below are links to archival NYTimes articles on architecture and its Significance in SoHo:
Extravaganza, by Gilbert Millstein
Architecture: Good Buildings Have Friends
An Architectural Tour of SoHo’s Cast-Iron Heritage, by Jennifer Dunning
Vesuvio Bakery: Anthony Dapolito, the unofficial Mayor of Greenwich Village, owned this small Bakery on 160 Prince Street for 82 years. Despite the constant changing of SoHo throughout the decades, this tiny store has not changed anything. The new owners,Audio Accounts of SoHo Life promised to keep everything the same, including the front window display. This bakery represents the fact that, although almost everything in SoHo is drastically changing, some things will always remain the same.
Over a cup of hot coffee and warm paninis, we spoke with the new owner of the Vesuvio Bakery. This kind man is just as insistent on keeping Vesuvio Bakery the traditional, time-honored place that Dapolito has made itself to be. For more information, please visit:
Anthony Dapolito, the ‘Mayor of Greenwich Village,’ dies at 82
Vesuvio, famed bread shop in Soho, is sold
 Vesuvio Bakery |
 The original bread in the bakery window |