A Clear Photo of the Building that Housed Tesla's East Houston Laboratory

I decided to continue my search for photos of the buildings which housed Tesla's labs by looking for photos of nearby buildings, in particular by Googling adjoining addresses. In doing so I've come across a good, clear photo of his East Houston Street laboratory building.

Tesla moved into the sixth and seventh floors of 46-48 East Houston in July, 1895 after his previous laboratory on South Fifth Avenue burned down. His Houston Street lab was the last address that is referred to as a laboratory in Manhattan in his Carlson biography. As demonstrated in a previous post, the Houston Street laboratory building was torn down in 1929 when Houston Street was widened and a subway line was installed beneath the street.

The photograph below is marked 45-49 East Houston, 9-26-1929. When I first saw it, I thought, interesting, across the street from Tesla's lab at 46-48.

East Houston Street, September 26, 1929. Parcels 45 to 49, (622) R.103 S.1. Subway Construction Photograph Collection. New York Historical Society #83675d. 

This photo was found at the New York Historical Society Tumblr page and will be referred to below as the September 1929 photo.

Pondering this photo I thought, wait a minute: they tore down both sides of E. Houston in 1929? Answer: No, they didn't. The Puck Building on the southwestern corner of Mulberry and East Houston is still standing. Could they have torn down a few buildings on the south side? Or was this photo mislabeled?

The 1930 G.W. Bromley Atlas divided E. Houston, north and south, into two different plates. Below is a composite. Note the disappearance of the buildings on the north side and the presence of the buildings on the south side.

From: Plates 23 and 19, Land Book, City of Manhattan, G.W. Bromley & Co, New York, 1930, New York Public Library. The sites of two buildings comprising 42-44 and 46-48 East Houston are marked and highlighted in yellow. By 1930, these were part of a vacant lot.

Below is a photo of the south side of East Houston between Mott and Mulberry and on to the Puck Building. These buildings were not demolished. The photo is from June 3, 1933.

From: New York Public Library Digital Collections, Image ID 719461F. South side of East Houston looking west from Mott, including the corner of Mulberry and the Puck Building.

The two buildings down from the empty lot in the September 1929 photo were the correct size for 42-44 and 46-48 E. Houston Street (seven stories for Tesla's lab) and abutted the corner. Also, the building in back (right side of photo) corresponds to the former police headquarters and has a vertical section with two tones as did the portion of the headquarters that was in the middle of the block.

1934 photograph of the former police headquarters at 300 Mulberry looking across East Houston after East Houston had been widened. Note the two-toned building in the middle of the block, marked by an arrow. This corresponds to the building on the right side of the September 1929 photo.

If the September 1929 photo was the north side of East Houston and, indeed, Tesla's laboratory, it would have been taken from the southwestern corner of Mott and East Houston (note the presence of a street sign in the upper right corner) and looking northwest. So, was this the case? The first clue I noticed is the One Way sign. If this is indeed the north side of the street and Tesla's lab then East Houston at this time was one way going west. The photo below looks from Elizabeth Street west down East Houston and includes Mott and, incredibly, the site of Tesla's laboratory, the taller building in the left upper corner (marked by an arrow).

From: New York Public Library Digital Collections, Image ID 719463F. This photo is helpfully labelled: East Houston Street, north side, west from Elizabeth Street, to but not including Mulberry, after crossing Mott Streets. Also shown (right) are Nos. 281 to 285 Elizabeth Street, at, adjoining and north of the N.W. corner of East Houston Street. These houses were later demolished to facilitate the construction of the Independent System Subway (Eighth Ave. subway); their site is now (1937) being used as a playground and Park. July 17, 1929.

Note that you can see the rear ends of cars along East Houston, pointing west. Therefore East Houston was One Way, going west. 

The next thing I noticed in the September 1929 photograph was the street sign blacked out by shadows. I know a little about Photoshop, so I took the sign and played with the contrast in Levels. Voila.

Photoshopped image of the street sign in the September 1929 photograph showing E Houst[on] and Mott.

Below is another photograph of the north side of East Houston between Mulberry and Mott although it mostly focuses on the west side of Mott. The building prominent and in the center is the back side of the former police headquarters which at one time extended from Mulberry to Mott. This corresponds well to the above 1934 photo of the police headquarters after the widening of East Houston. Note the two-toned building and the white ghosts of bricked-over windows. The tall building on the left hand side of the photograph is Tesla's laboratory, although only brick can be seen.

From: New York Public Library Digital Collections, Image ID 721774F. Mott Street (where the car is parked) looking northwest across East Houston.

Previously:
Tesla's Houston Street Laboratory
Tesla's Grand Street Laboratory
Tesla's South Fifth Avenue Laboratory
Tesla's Liberty Street Laboratory


Martin Hill Ortiz, also writing under the name, Martin Hill, is the author of A Predatory Mind. Its sequel, set in 1890s Manhattan and titled A Predator's Game, Rook's Page Publishing, features Nikola Tesla as a detective.  

A Predator's Game is available in soft-cover and ebook editions through Amazon and other online retailers.
 
His recent mystery, Never Kill A Friend, is available from Ransom Note Press. His epic poem, Two Mistakes, recently won second place in the Margaret Reid/Tom Howard Poetry Competition. He can be contacted at mdhillortiz@gmail.com..

Continue reading →

Tesla's Liberty Street Laboratory

In 1887, Nikola Tesla rented his first laboratory. This is described in Carlson's biography:

Tesla’s first laboratory was located in New York’s financial district. The laboratory was at 89 Liberty Street, just around the corner from the offices of Mutual Union at 120 Broadway. On the ground floor was the Globe Stationery & Printing Company, and Tesla occupied a room upstairs. The lab was furnished with only a workbench, a stove, and a dynamo manufactured by Edward Weston.

From: Carlson, W. Bernard. Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age (p. 81). Princeton University Press.

This was in the middle of the north side of Liberty Street between Broadway and Church. (The street is named Church north of Liberty, and Trinity to the south). Across the street from 89 Liberty, Temple Street ran two blocks south to Trinity Church. With Tesla's obsession with the number three and with his father a priest, perhaps Trinity, Church and Temple were significant to him. The building with his laboratory is highlighted below in orange in an 1891 Atlas map.

From: Plate 2. Atlas of the City of New York, Manhattan Island. G.W. Bromley and Co., Philadelphia, 1891.

His stay here continued through the time when he invented the A/C generator and motor, although much of the refinement of these inventions were done in Pittsburgh. He moved to his Grand Street laboratory in August of 1889.


Globe Stationery continued at this address from 1876 until 1897 when it moved to 25 John Street. (Modern Stationer and Book-Seller, April 25, 1921. page 44, Google Books).


The Singer Building was constructed on this site. When it was completed in 1908, it was briefly the tallest building in the world. It was torn down in 1968, at the time the tallest building ever demolished. It was replaced by 1 Liberty Center. The site of Tesla's laboratory is one-half block east of the southeastern corner of what would become the grounds of the World Trade Center.

From: Plate 2. Atlas of the City of New York, Manhattan Island. G.W. Bromley and Co., Philadelphia, 1911. This map clearly shows 89 Liberty Street as part of the southwest corner of the Singer Building.

The Singer Building. Photo from Wikipedia. Tesla's laboratory at 89 Liberty Street was situated at what became the southwestern corner (leftmost in the above picture).

Previously:
Tesla's Houston Street Laboratory
Tesla's Grand Street Laboratory
Tesla's South Fifth Avenue Laboratory
Next up:
Part Five: A Clear Photo of the Building that Housed Tesla's East Houston Laboratory.

A Predator's Game is available in soft-cover and ebook editions through Amazon and other online retailers.

A Predator's Game, now available, Rook's Page Publishing.

 -----------------------
Nikola Tesla, Arthur Conan Doyle and Dr. Henry H. Holmes are all characters in my thriller, A Predator's Game.

Back page blurb.

Manhattan, 1896.

When the author Arthur Conan Doyle meets Nikola Tesla he finds a tall, thin genius with a photographic memory and a keen eye, and recognizes in the eccentric inventor the embodiment of his creation, Sherlock. Together, they team up to take on an "evil Holmes." Multi-murderer Dr. Henry H. Holmes has escaped execution and is unleashing a reign of terror upon the metropolis. Set in the late nineteenth century in a world of modern marvels, danger and invention, Conan Doyle and Tesla engage the madman in a deadly game of wits.

Martin Hill Ortiz, also writing under the name, Martin Hill, is the author of A Predatory Mind. Its sequel, set in 1890s Manhattan and titled A Predator's Game, will be available from Rook's Page Publishing, March 30, 2016. It features Nikola Tesla as detective.

Continue reading →

Tesla's South Fifth Avenue Laboratory

In August of 1892, Tesla moved his laboratory from 175 Grand to 33-35 South Fifth Avenue where he took up the fourth floor. This was on the east side of the middle of the block, south of Third, north of Bleecker. He continued there for two and a half years until his laboratory burnt down on March 13, 1895. (Ironically, Tesla's favorite numbers were 3 and 13.)

Here are excerpts of the story of the fire from the New York Times:

"I am in too much grief to talk. What can I say? The work of half my lifetime, very nearly all my mechanical instruments and scientific apparatus, that it has taken years to perfect, swept away in a fire that lasted only an hour or two. How can I estimate the loss in mere dollars and cents? Everything is gone. I must begin over again."

That is all that Nikola Tesla, the renowned electrician, had to say about a fire that utterly wiped out his laboratory at 35 South Fifth Avenue yesterday and destroyed instruments on which he has made experiments in advanced electricity that have astonished the world. Tears were in his eyes when he spoke. 
......
Gillis & Geoghegan, manufacturers of steamfitters' supplies, occupied the lower floors of the building in which Mr. Tesla had his laboratory. Night Watchman Mahoney was employed to look after the building. He said that he was making his rounds as usual just before 3 o’clock yesterday morning when he discovered the fire. It had started on the ground floor, but from precisely what cause is not known. He tried in vain to put it out with pails of water. Mr. Tesla's Great Loss. New York Times, March 14, 1895.


The South Fifth Avenue laboratory location is shown below, highlighted in green on an 1891 map.

From: Bromley, George Washington. Atlas of the city of New York, Manhattan Island. 1891. The David Rumsey Map Collection. davidrumsey.com

South Fifth Avenue was renamed West Broadway in 1896 and the address corresponding to 33-35 became 537-539. Here is the location in an 1897 Atlas. The building is the one highlighted in light blue on the left side of the map. It is greatly lengthened, and from the description of the magnitude of the fire, it is likely that large sections were newly built.

From: Bromley, George Washington. Atlas of the city of New York, Manhattan Island. 1897. New York Public Library Archives.

The map below depicts the area in 1904. The building with Tesla's lab is highlighted in yellow. (However, it was rebuilt.)

From Bird's Eye View of New York City, 1904. New York Public Library.


Gillis & Geoghegan specialized in steam and hot water heating plants. Their names can be found on steam gauges and they promoted a telescopic hoist for lifting items for construction. They continued to be located at 537-539 West Broadway through at least the mid-1920s. In an advertisement dated 1929, they had moved across the street to 540 W. Broadway.

A 1918 Advertisement for a G & G Hoist.

By the 1970s, this section of street was renamed LaGuardia Place. A copse of trees now occupies the space in front of a block of businesses and these trees would be the true location of the site of Tesla's lab. As for the businesses, 539 borders 535 and occupies the space of both 537 and 539. Ennio & Michael's Ristorante was located at this address from 1988 to 2010. (The End is Near for Ennio & Michael's, New York Times, July 22, 2010.) The LaGuardia Student Co-op now occupies this street number.

Part One: Tesla's East Houston Laboratory.
Part Two: Tesla's Grand Street Laboratory.
Part Four: Tesla's Liberty Street Laboratory.
Part Five: A Clear Photo of the Building that Housed Tesla's East Houston Laboratory.

Martin Hill Ortiz, also writing under the name, Martin Hill, is the author of A Predatory Mind. Its sequel, set in 1890s Manhattan and titled A Predator's Game, features Nikola Tesla as a dective and will be available from Rook's Page Publishing, March 28, 2016.  (More details coming soon.)
His recent mystery, Never Kill A Friend, is available from Ransom Note Press. His epic poem, Two Mistakes, recently won second place in the Margaret Reid/Tom Howard Poetry Competition. He can be contacted at mdhillortiz@gmail.com.

Continue reading →

Tesla's Grand Street Laboratory, Updated 11/23/15

Updates at the bottom of the page include photos of buildings from the area, including one that has Tesla's lab in the extreme corner. Also, historic "Bird's Eye View" maps have been added.

After describing the fate of Nikola Tesla's Houston Street laboratory in yesterday's post, I thought, to be complete, I should include information on his other laboratories.

Tesla's second laboratory was located at 175 Grand Street. From Carlson's biography:

When Tesla returned to New York [August 1889], he went to work in a new laboratory at 175 Grand Street. This lab consisted of one room divided by partitions; Tesla’s backer, Brown, complained that the space was too small for the work he thought needed to be done. Along with moving his laboratory, Tesla also changed his residence to the Astor House on Broadway between Barclay and Vesey streets.

From: Carlson, W. Bernard. Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age (p. 118). Princeton University Press.

This laboratory was located at the second building down on the south side of Grand, east of the corner of Grand and Baxter. Its location is shown in this 1893 map (Tesla's laboratory, in the upper middle, is highlighted in purple):

Plate 5. Atlas of the City of New York, Volume Four. South of Fourteenth Street. 3rd Edition. E. Robinson and R.H. Pidgeon. Published by E. Robinson and Co., New York, 1893.

Which doesn't look much different from this 1956 map, although the building at 175 seems to be divided in two:

From: Bromley, George Washington. Atlas of the city of New York, Manhattan Island. 1956. New York Public Library Archives.

This was an interesting and is a mostly preserved neighborhood. Between Center and Baxter on Grand was the I.O.O.F Hall, the International Order of Odd Fellows (shown in the 1893 map). It still stands. Across the street from this was the Center Street Market. The new police headquarters was built across from this (having moved from 300 Mulberry) in 1909, an ostentatious building which still stands. Also preserved are several buildings on the north side of Grand between Baxter and Mulberry. Finally, at the southwest corner of Grand and Mulberry there was the Banca Stabile which served the community of Little Italy from 1882 to 1932 and in recent years has become the Italian-American Museum. (New York Times, September 9, 2008, Regional) This was the sixth address down from Tesla's laboratory suggesting that Tesla's address can be seen at the far right of this photo.

Banca Stabile, corner of Mulberry and Grand. The right side of the photograph looks down Grand Street. Tesla's lab would be the third address down in the taller building at the edge of the photo. Photo dated 1885 in CUNY webpage. From the Italian-American Museum.

1904 Grand Street, Mulberry at far right.

Excerpted from Bird's Eye View of New York City, 1904, New York Public Library.

Above map, annotated. 1. Building with Tesla's laboratory, 175 Grand Street. 2. Banca Stabile. 3. Odd Fellows Hall. 4. Future site of Central Police Headquarters. 5. Center Street Market.

In 1990, a new building was constructed which covered this territory (source: New York Times 11/20/2009, Real Estate). The upper floors are part of LaGrande Condominium. Even though  there are several storefronts along the first floor, they each bear the address 179 Grand. Among these, the business that corresponds to the former site of 175 Grand is Villy Pharmacy.

Villy Pharmacy at the site of Tesla's 175 Grand Street laboratory.

Part One: Tesla's East Houston Street Laboratory.
Part Three: Tesla's South Fifth Avenue Laboratory.
Part Four: Tesla's Liberty Street Laboratory.
Part Five: A Clear Photo of the Building that Housed Tesla's East Houston Laboratory.

 Odd Fellows Hall, ~1975. Edmund V. Gillon, photographer. Corner of Center and Grand.

A Predator's Game is available in soft-cover and ebook editions through Amazon and other online retailers.

A Predator's Game, now available, Rook's Page Publishing.

 -----------------------
Nikola Tesla, Arthur Conan Doyle and Dr. Henry H. Holmes are all characters in my thriller, A Predator's Game.

Back page blurb.

Manhattan, 1896.

When the author Arthur Conan Doyle meets Nikola Tesla he finds a tall, thin genius with a photographic memory and a keen eye, and recognizes in the eccentric inventor the embodiment of his creation, Sherlock. Together, they team up to take on an "evil Holmes." Multi-murderer Dr. Henry H. Holmes has escaped execution and is unleashing a reign of terror upon the metropolis. Set in the late nineteenth century in a world of modern marvels, danger and invention, Conan Doyle and Tesla engage the madman in a deadly game of wits.

Martin Hill Ortiz, also writing under the name, Martin Hill, is the author of A Predatory Mind. Its sequel, set in 1890s Manhattan and titled A Predator's Game, will be available from Rook's Page Publishing, March 30, 2016. It features Nikola Tesla as detective.

Continue reading →

Setting the record straight on Nikola Tesla's East Houston laboratory.

Note: I have come across a clear photo of the building which housed Tesla's laboratory on East Houston which I present in a more recent post. The evidence that it is, indeed, the correct building is partly based on what is written below.

I have undertaken a fair amount of research regarding Nikola Tesla and 19th century Manhattan for my upcoming thriller, A Predator's Game. (Rook's Page Publishing, March 30, 2016).

In doing so, I've come across a number of articles that purport to pinpoint the location of Tesla's East Houston Street laboratory, its history and what became of it. I'd like to correct some of their errors. In summary, the building where Tesla had his East Houston laboratory stood from 1895 to 1929.

Let's have some background. On March 13, 1895, Tesla lost all of his work in a fire at his previous laboratory.

By a fire which almost completely gutted the six-story and basement building at 33 and 35 South Fifth avenue, this city, on March 13, Mr. Nikola Tesla, the electrician, lost all of the apparatus with which he has been carrying on his professional experiments. He occupied the entire fourth floor. When the floor gave way his apparatus fell to the second story where it lay in unrecognizable ruin. It was not insured. March 20, 1895, Electrical Engineer Magazine, p. 275 as presented at Tesla Universe.

As described in W. Bernard Carlson's biography of Tesla: "With his depression finally waning, Tesla rented a new laboratory on two floors of a building at 46 East Houston Street in July 1895." Carlson, W. Bernard. Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age (p. 218). Princeton University Press.

This address is referred to as 46-48 E. Houston in Tesla's correspondences. The address was located on the north side of E. Houston just east of the corner of Mulberry and two blocks from Broadway.

This was a new seven story building. Tesla's laboratory occupied the two upper floors. Liana Grey, of tenement-museum.blogspot.com, did some excellent research into the past history of this section of street. In 1894, the building occupying this space was torn down. It was called "Dramatic Hall" and had descended from theater to dance hall to "a nightly abode of an army of tramps."

Grey quotes extensively from an 1894 Daily Tribune article about the destruction of Dramatic Hall and the plans for the new building:

Workmen yesterday began to tear down the four story building on the north side of Houston Street midway between Mulberry and Mott Streets, which was a well-known place of amusement in war times when the next block in Houston Street was known as "murderer's row." The building was called "Dramatic Hall" for 20 years after the war, although it degenerated to a dance hall with a bar-room on the first floor, and regular theatrical performances disappeared from the place forever. Several years ago, it was turned into a cheap lodging house and became the nightly abode of an army of tramps, fairly earning the significant name of "Scratch Hall." It became such a breeding place for disease that the Health Board revoked its license. In late years it had been occupied as a furniture warehouse. A seven-story business structure is to be erected on the site of the old building.


Interestingly, one of the more famous 19th Century/early 20 Century addresses in Manhattan was just around the corner: 300 Mulberry Street. This was the central police headquarters and in the mid-1890s housed the office of the president of the police board, Theodore Roosevelt.

So, with this as background, let's look at the maps. First, here is 1891 Manhattan. This would have been at the time of Dramatic Hall and before the new seven story building was built.





Illustration from: Bromley, George Washington. Atlas of the city of New York, Manhattan Island. 1891 Pl. 8. The David Rumsey Map Collection. davidrumsey.com

The street bisecting the page top to bottom is Mulberry. Note the numbering of the north side of E. Houston "42" and "48." In this map, Dramatic Hall would have been the third building from the corner. Note also, the police department on Mulberry. At this time it connects to the Health Department and spans the block. It is bordered by St. Barnabas chapel and across the street from San Salvatore church. (Also across the street from the police station was the New York press station for reporters.)

Secondly, here is 1897 Manhattan. This would have been after the new building was built and occupied by Tesla. Now that the Dramatic Hall is gone, two large buildings fill the space from 42 to 48 East Houston. Tesla's laboratory, 46-48 (highlighted in green), is the second from the corner. Also, the Police Department expanded to take over the Health Department building.

From: Bromley, George Washington. Atlas of the city of New York, Manhattan Island. 1897 Pl. 23. New York Public Library Archives.

Next, here is 1899 Manhattan. What a difference two years make. Elm Street plowed over most of the buildings in back of the west side of Mulberry Street eliminating San Salvatore Church. Greater New York consolidated into one city in 1898.Tesla's laboratory is again highlighted in green.

From: Bromley, George Washington. Atlas of the city of New York, Manhattan Island. 1899 Pl. 23. New York Public Library Archives.


Interestingly, fire followed Tesla here. (No, they were not caused by his electrical experiments.) In this article from 1900:

Fire in the seven-story building at 46-48 East Houston street early Thursday morning damaged many of the early delicate models and machines in the laboratory of Nikola Tesla, the inventor. What the damage is cannot be told yet, as Mr. Tesla, who is South for his health, is the only one who knows their value. Western Electrician Magazine, March 17, 1900, p. 179.

There are other maps to be found over the next three decades, but these two describe what happened to the buildings.

From: Bromley, George Washington. Atlas of the city of New York, Manhattan Island. 1927 Pl. 23. New York Public Library Archives.

Above, in 1927, 46-48 E. Houston is intact. Police headquarters moved out in 1909 and has been replaced by Traffic Court.

 From: Bromley, George Washington. Atlas of the city of New York, Manhattan Island. 1930, Pl. 23. New York Public Library Archives.

Above, in 1930, the buildings along the north side of East Houston are razed to widen the street and lay down a subway line underneath. In case there is any doubt as to the nature of the white spaces, let's take a look at some photos and illustrations from the times.

I have not found any direct photos of the north side of East Houston at the time when Tesla's laboratory was there. There are, however, photos and illustrations of 300 Mulberry Street, Police Headquarters. First to make clear this distinct building was indeed 300 Mulberry Street and Police Headquarters, here is an illustration from 1868.

Police Headquarters, 1868.

Let's look at a later illustration.

Police Headquarters, 1887. New York City Public Library Archives.

The above illustration is dated 1887. It seems likely that the building on the right-hand side and in the background is the Dramatic Hall. It is four stories as the above news story describes and is set back from what would be the corner of Mulberry and East Houston.

 Let's look that as a photo. This is from 1913. Now on the extreme right, set back from Mulberry, we have a seven story building. This contains Tesla's laboratory on its sixth and seventh floors, seen only as a sliver in the back of the nearer building.

300 Mulberry, Post card. 1910. From New York City Public Library Archives.

Pay attention to the now former police headquarters. Below is a photo of the building in 1934. The buildings on the right side have been razed (as shown in the 1930 map), along with Tesla's laboratory.

North side of East Houston looking east past the corner of Mulberry. The former Police Headquarters is now at the corner of the street.

Below is a drawing of the area from a "Bird's Eye" perspective, 1904. Tesla's laboratory building is highlighted in yellow.

Excerpted from: Bird's Eye View of New York City, 1904. New York Public Library. 

Part Two: Tesla's Grand Street Laboratory. (Substantial new material added: November 23, 2015)
Part Three: Tesla's South Fifth Avenue Laboratory.
Part Four: Tesla's Liberty Street Laboratory.
Part Five: A Clear Photo of the Building that Housed Tesla's East Houston Laboratory.

Martin Hill Ortiz, also writing under the name, Martin Hill, is the author of A Predatory Mind. Its sequel, set in 1890s Manhattan and titled A Predator's Game, Rook's Page Publishing, features Nikola Tesla as a detective.

A Predator's Game is available in soft-cover and ebook editions through Amazon and other online retailers.


His recent mystery, Never Kill A Friend, is available from Ransom Note Press. His epic poem, Two Mistakes, recently won second place in the Margaret Reid/Tom Howard Poetry Competition. He can be contacted at mdhillortiz@gmail.com.

Continue reading →