Gibbes Building

USA / New Jersey / Hoboken / West Broadway, 66
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6-story office building completed in 1895 as a store-and-loft building. Designed by William Bloodgood, it is clad in orange brick above a 2-story black cast-iron base, interrupted on the West Broadway side by a limestone bay with a recessed entrance headed by a carved stone cartouche with palm fronds on either side, and a stone panel reading "GIBBES BUILDING". The ground floor of the base is lined with storefronts, while the 2nd floor has projecting bay windows separated by cast-iron piers with decorative capitals.

A stone cornice caps the base, with brackets supporting a balcony above the limestone section; the balcony connects to the iron fire escape running down the next bay to the south. The five central bays on the longer West Broadway facade have black cast-iron spandrels and mullions, and terminate in segmental-arches with keystones at the 6th floor. The brick piers between each bay end in Ionic stone capitals. The two outer bays have simple pairs of recessed, square-headed windows with stone sills, which also make up the single bay on the narrow Murray Street facade. Both facades are crowned by a prominent black metal roof cornice with modillions and scrolled brackets alternating in pairs and singles. The exposed north elevation is clad in painted brick and has a large advertising sign.

Following completion, the building was quickly rented to a variety of businesses: a crockery business (the whole area was known back then as the crockery district), publishing enterprises, lawyers, candy manufacturers, and a variety of professionals. The well-respected New York Medical Journal had its offices and editorial rooms here. A tenant of note in the 1930s 2nd-floor space was the Aquarium Stock Company. The press described it as the largest aquarium store in the country. It made headlines in 1935 when it brought a large octopus from the Caribbean to its showrooms and managed to turn the showroom into a bit of a tourist attraction. The ground floor is currently occupied by Babesta children's wear, Koh Art Gallery & Frame Studio, Spring Body Work, Frankly Wines, Frank's Shoe Repair, and Corner Gourmet deli.
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Coordinates:   40°42'52"N   74°0'36"W
This article was last modified 11 years ago