280 Broadway

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A. T. Stewart Company Store
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
Location: 280 Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, New York
Coordinates: 40°42′51.29″N 74°0′22.44″W / 40.7142472, -74.0062333Coordinates: 40°42′51.29″N 74°0′22.44″W / 40.7142472, -74.0062333
Built/Founded: 1845-1846
Architect: John B. Snook of Joseph Trench & Co[1]
Architectural style(s): Palladian
Designated as NHL: June 02, 1978 [2]
Added to NRHP: June 02, 1978 [3]
NRHP Reference#: 78001885

280 Broadway (known also as the Marble Palace, the A.T. Stewart Company Store or The Sun Building) is the site of America's first department store.[4] It later housed The New York Sun newspaper and is now used for municipal offices for New York City. 280 Broadway is on the northeast corner of Chambers Street, New York City, NY[2]

Alexander Turney Stewart had opened his mercantile business across the street, but when it started to prosper, had "The Marble Palace" built on the site of Washington Hall, the former headquarters of the Federalist Party. Stewart's department store featured a number of marketing innovations designed to increase the volume of turnover and keep up with the increasing capacity of industrial manufacturing. He was among the first to set fixed prices for his goods and drew female customers through special sales and fashion shows. The success of his store inspired numerous imitations north along a five block strip of Broadway. At the height of their success in the 1850s, this portion of Broadway became popular among the city's fashionable elite for window shopping while strutting about in the latest garb.

The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.[2],[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "AIA Guide to New York City", 4th Edition, pg 78
  2. ^ a b c A.T. Stewart Company Store. National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service (2007-09-14).
  3. ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
  4. ^ NL writeup
  5. ^ George R. Adams (December, 1996), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: A.T. Stewart Company StorePDF (811 KiB), National Park Service  and Accompanying photos, exterior, from 1976.PDF (342 KiB)

[edit] External links

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