Weehawken Street (Manhattan)
Encyclopedia
Weehawken Street is a short street located in New York City
's West Village
, in the borough
of Manhattan
, one block from and parallel to West Street and the Hudson River
, running between Christopher Street
and West 10th Street
.
The land around Weehawken Street was at one time part of Newgate State Prison, built in 1796-97, until the prison was closed and razed and the city in 1829 sold the prison property off in lots. It held on to a strip of property, creating Weehawken Street and opening a produce market on the site, building the Market House in 1834. The market – officially the Greenwich Market, but informally referred to as "Weehawken Market" – was unsucessful and was closed in 1844, with the property sold to private buyers. Over the year, the area's buildings were used for dwellings, stables, boarding houses, maritime-related businesses, transportation-related busineses, clothing and supply stores and other miscellaneous industries, but a dominant use was for saloons and liquor stores, including bars and clubs catering to a "rough trade" gay clientele in the late 20th century.
designated all the buildings on Weehawken Street, plus additional properties on West Street and Christopher Street, as the Weehawken Street Historic District:
The creation of the district was largely due to the efforts of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
, a preservation advocacy group active in the area.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's West Village
West Village, Manhattan
The West Village is the western portion of the Greenwich Village neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The area is usually defined as bounded by the Hudson River on the west and either Sixth Avenue or Seventh Avenue on the east, extending from 14th Street down to Houston Street...
, in the borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, one block from and parallel to West Street and the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
, running between Christopher Street
Christopher Street (Manhattan)
Christopher Street is a street in the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the continuation of 9th St. to the west of its intersection with 6th Ave. The Stonewall Inn is located on Christopher Street, and, therefore, the street was at the center of New York's...
and West 10th Street
10th Street (Manhattan)
10th Street is an east-west street from the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan to Avenue D in the East Village. East of Sixth Avenue it changes heading, from east-northeast to east-southeast. Traffic is eastbound as far as Tompkins Square Park, of which it marks...
.
The land around Weehawken Street was at one time part of Newgate State Prison, built in 1796-97, until the prison was closed and razed and the city in 1829 sold the prison property off in lots. It held on to a strip of property, creating Weehawken Street and opening a produce market on the site, building the Market House in 1834. The market – officially the Greenwich Market, but informally referred to as "Weehawken Market" – was unsucessful and was closed in 1844, with the property sold to private buyers. Over the year, the area's buildings were used for dwellings, stables, boarding houses, maritime-related businesses, transportation-related busineses, clothing and supply stores and other miscellaneous industries, but a dominant use was for saloons and liquor stores, including bars and clubs catering to a "rough trade" gay clientele in the late 20th century.
Historic district
On May 2, 2006, the New York City Landmarks Preservation CommissionNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The Commission was created in April 1965 by Mayor Robert F. Wagner following the destruction of Pennsylvania Station the previous year to make way for...
designated all the buildings on Weehawken Street, plus additional properties on West Street and Christopher Street, as the Weehawken Street Historic District:
The picturesque enclave of fourteen buildings and the street plan that together comprise the Weehawken Street Historic District represents several phases of construction spanning a century of development along Greenwich Village's Hudson River waterfront, from 1830 to 1938. The architecture illustrates the area's long history as a place of dwelling, industry, and commerce, much of it maritime-related, and is a rare surviving example of this once typical development pattern on Manhattan's west side waterfront. Many of the properties in the historic district were associated with the families of prominent long-term owners, such as former Mayor Stephen Allen, Cornelius V.S. Roosevelt, lawyer Edmund R. Terry, brewer-distiller Patrick Skelly, and linen merchant James Dean. In addition, several significant maritime-related industries were located within the historic district for a century, between 1884 and 1984.
The creation of the district was largely due to the efforts of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation is a non-profit organization that seeks to preserve the architectural heritage and cultural history of several neighborhoods of New York City: Greenwich Village, the East Village, the Far West Village, the South Village, Gansevoort Market,...
, a preservation advocacy group active in the area.