10. The Lost Mansions of Bond Street
In the 1820s, Bond, Bleecker, Great Jones, and Lafayette Streets were some of the most fashionable addresses in the city. In addition to Lafayette Place, mansions sprang up in the neighborhood for wealthy residents. Astor built the Astor Library as a donation to the city, and Alexander Jackson Davis designed ornate Federal-style row houses called LaGrange Terrace, now known as Colonnade Row.
In its heyday, the neighborhood was home to notable residents including the aristocratic mayor Philip Hone, the Astors and Vanderbilts, and the authors Washington Irving, Charles Dickens, and William Makepeace Thackeray. In addition, U.S. President John Tyler was married in one of the fashionable mansions in NoHo. Wealthy residents such as the poet William Cullen Bryant and the inventor Isaac Singer lived there through the 1880s, but by the end of the century, the neighborhood had become primarily a warehouse and manufacturing district. Greek Revival terracotta and brick loft-style buildings began to replace wealthy residences, and in 1902, the southern five mansions on Colonnade Row were demolished to clear space for Wanamaker’s Department Store. The last mansions on Bond Street, however, continued to last until the 1930s.
Next, check out the Astor Place Riot and The Remnants of NYC’s Cat Alley