Schermerhorn Row

 NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, rowhouse, historical building

The Schermerhorn Row Block is part of South Street Seaport in lower Manhattan. It consists of almost two dozen original small, Federal- and Greek-revival-style buildings, dating as far back as 1793.

On the north side of the block, on Front Street, the structures are as follows: 159-163 John (181-189 Front), a pair of Greek-revival 5-story warehouses completed in 1836. No. 131 was owned by the grocers Mackle, Oakley & Jennlson, and No. 189 by Josiah Macy, a prominent merchant captain. Josiah Macy & Son occupied No. 189 until 1885, when the firm moved next door to No.191, where it remained until after the turn of the century. The trabeated granite ground floor splays a fine row of regularly-spaced piers with Tuscan capitals supporting a deep architrave. Above the molded cornice which elegantly terminates the granite storefront Is a continuous granite sill shared by the tall, narrow 2nd-story windows. At the upper stories, the shorter windows are simply detailed with granite sills and lintels. The roof cornice is of molded brick. An additional story with a deeply projecting cornice was added to No. 181, the corner building, In 1917.

191 Front Street, a 5-story building completed as early as 1793 as a 2.5-story building with a peaked roof, and significantly altered since. Garrett Westful, a merchant, occupied the stores in 1794-95, and the leading mercantile establishment of Minturn & Champlin was housed here Intermittently between 1804 and 1816. The present facade reflects many 19th-century alterations. The cast-iron storefront displays tall, slim, rectangular columns, ornamented like those at 214 Front Street. These columns have traces of their original Corinthian capitals. The upper floors are faced in the pressed brick typical of the late 19th century. Stone lintels and sills are at each of the windows and a dentilled roof cornice of a very retardatalre Greek- revival style extends above the brick fascia.

193 Front Street, a 5-story building completed as early as 1793 as a 2.5-story building with a peaked roof, and significantly altered since. The original appearance is completely concealed by a 19th-century Victorian alteration to its facade. By about 1847 the original building had been either replaced or raised to five stories with a tall two-story, studio-type top floor. Later, In 1877, another story was added and the Victorian front Installed. At the ground floor the cast-iron storefront has large paneled square columns. These columns carry a broad lintel with curved projected ends and contrast with the narrow rectangular columns with stylized lotus leaf capitals which flank the central opening. The next three floors are embellished with Neo-Grec stone lintels with elegantly Incised curvilinear decor. Vertically grooved band courses connect these windows at impost block level, a motif which occur uninterrupted for the width of the building between the 5th & 6th floors. The extremely tall windows of the 5th floor are separated by narrow engaged cast-iron round columns. The three sets of paired windows at the top floor are crowned by a deeply projecting metal roof cornice with an impressive arched pediment at its center.

195 Front Street, a 4-story Federal-style building completed in 1812. The ground floor has been remodeled with stone piers and lintels to increase the size of the openings, while carrying the original Flemish bond red brick wall above it. This building also retains its original pitched roof. It was first occupied by Jenkins & Havens, an Important early shipping firm.

The eastern side of the block, fronting Fulton Street, is as follows, beginning at the south end: 2-12 Fulton Street, a row of six Georgian/Federal-style counting-houses built for Peter Schermerhorn in 1811. The buildings of Schermerhorn Row were erected as warehouses with counting rooms and were leased by the Schermerhorn family to other merchants. The original appearance of these six narrow red brick buildings, united by a common cornice line and almost completely identical to the three other buildings at the northern end of Schermerhorn Row (14-18 Fulton), must have been quite handsome. Exterior stairways, which led up to the second-story counting-house rooms, were removed in the 1840s. At the ground floor of each building there was an arched doorway with brownstone trim keyed to the surrounding brickwork. These doors served as entrances to the warehouse areas of the buildings. At Nos. 4-10 the high pitched roofs are intact and, with the exception of No. 10, a gabled dormer crowns each building. These dormers were not, however, original features of the buildings which had only hatchways leading to the roofs. The mansard roof at No.2 replaces the original hipped roof which was once aligned with those in the row to the northwest. At the time the roof was altered another story was also added beneath it. This building served as a hotel in the mid-l9th century when it was known as Joseph Calvin's East River Hotel. By 1875 it was known as the Fulton Ferry Hotel. Later in the 19th century, cast-iron replaced many of the granite piers. Today cast-iron features remain at Nos.4 and 10. Despite the remodeling of No.2 and the unfortunate 1935 alterations at No.12, these six buildings form a striking row.

14-18 Fulton Street, a trio of 4.5-story buildings completed in 1812, forming the northwestern end of the original Schermerhorn Row. Nos. 14 and 16 retain their original high pitched roofs and the hipped roof of the corner building, No. 10, effectively terminates this fine row. The early features of the ground floors of this portion of the row, including the Greek-revival trabeated fronts of the 1840s, were replaced by cast-iron storefronts dating from the middle of the 19th century. At those shopfronts, some of which have been restored by the South Street Seaport Museum, paneled cast-iron square columns enframe wide openings. Splayed brownstone intels remain at many of the upper story windows. No.18 was altered in 1873 by Detlef Lienau.

On the western side of the block, fronting Peck Slip, as follows: 165 John Street, a 5-story building completed in 1811 for George Codwise, Jr. This was the northwestern-most building in a row of, six which was constructed at the same time that Peter Schermerhorn's row was begun on Fulton Street. No. 165 is the only extant building of the Codwise row. It was first occupied in 1812 by Merrit & Corlies, flour merchants. Now five stories tall, the building contrasts with the higher 181 Front Street, which had a sixth floor added in 1917.

161-171 John Street, a 5-story building completed in 1850 as a counting-house. Its brownstone facade is now covered in cream-colored stucco, with a raised basement. Each floor has eight window bays. The cast-iron first floor is exceptionally notable since it was manufactured by the well-known Architectural Ironworks of Daniel D. Badger. The cast-iron front dates from before 1865, but it is not known if it was an original feature of the facade or not. Its paneled square columns once had elaborate Corinthian capitals. The tall windows at the three upper stories contrast well with the shorter top story windows. The facade is crowned by a simple cornice with a fascia below.

Finally, the southeastern end of the block, fronting South Street, is as follows: 91-93 South Street, a trio of buildings completed in 1812 for Peter Schermerhorn. The early Federal character of the original Flemish ond brick facades has been largely transformed by later 19th-century alterations. In 1868, Nos. 92 and 93 were raised from four to six stories and topped by a mansard roof with gabled dormers. This alteration was made for John H. McKinley, who began running his steamboat hotel at No.95 (a.k.a. 2 Fulton) that same year. By 1879, Nos. 92 and 93 were both part of the Fulton Ferry Hotel on Fulton Street. No. 91 was raised from Its original four stories with peaked roof to five in 1897, when It housed a hotel above its ground floor. The ground floors of Nos. 91-92 were modernized later with new storefronts.

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www.nypap.org/oral-history/susan-henshaw-jones/