The Fifth Avenue Hotel was a luxury hotel located at 200

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

from 1859 to 1908. It had an entire block of

frontage Frontage is the boundary between a plot of land or a building and the road onto which the plot or building fronts. Frontage may also refer to the full length of this boundary. This length is considered especially important for certain types of ...

between 23rd Street and 24th Street, at the southwest corner of

Madison Square Madison Square is a town square, public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway at 23rd Street (Manhattan), 23rd Street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. The square ...

Site and construction

The site was previously the location of Madison Cottage, which was a

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

stop for passengers headed north from the city. From 1853 to 1856 it was the site of Franconi's Hippodrome, a tent-like structure of canvas and wood which could accommodate up to 10,000 spectators who watched chariot races and other "Amusements of the Ancient Greeks and Romans". The Fifth Avenue Hotel was built in 1856–59 by Amos Richards Eno at the cost of $2 million. The building was designed by

Griffith Thomas Griffith Thomas (1820—1879) was an American architect. He partnered with his father, Thomas Thomas, at the architecture firm of T. Thomas and Son.William Washburn. Due to the site's location away from the city center, the hotel was labelled as "Eno's Folly" during construction, due to its location away from the city centre. Following the hotel's opening, it became "the social, cultural political hub of elite New York," and brought in a quarter of a million dollars a year in profits.Miller, Char (2001) ''Gifford Pinchot and the Making of Modern Environmentalism'' Washington, D.C.: Island Press. p.47 The Fifth Avenue Hotel spurred development of additional hotels to the north and west, to the north of the

Madison Square Park Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, fourth President of the United States. ...

, an arknown in the 21st century as the

NoMad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

neighborhood.

Design and accommodations

The Fifth Avenue Hotel was constructed of brick and white marble, and stood at five storeys over a commercial ground floor. The first example of

Otis Tufts Otis Tufts (February 14, 1804 - November 5, 1869) was a machinist and inventor who built printing machines, steam engines, firefighting equipment and invented the steam pile driver. Biography Otis Tufts was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in ...

' "vertical screw railway," the first passenger elevator installed in a hotel in the United States, a notable but cumbersome feature powered by a stationary steam engine carried passengers to the upper floors by a revolving screw that passed through the center of the passenger cab. The building was of a plain

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

palazzo-front design, with a projecting tin

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, but its sober exterior contained richly appointed public rooms: ''

Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...

'' reviewed its "heavy masses of gilt wood, rich crimson or green curtains, extremely handsome rose-wood and

brocatelle Brocatelle is a silk-rich fabric with heavy brocade designs. The material is characterized by satin effects standing out in relief in the warp against a flat ground. It is produced with jacquard weave by using silk, rayon, cotton, or many sy ...

suits, rich carpets... the whole presenting about as handsome and as comfortless an appearance as any one need wish for." A correspondent for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' of London, in New York to cover the visit of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

in 1860, called the hotel "a larger and more handsome building than

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

." The hotel employed 400 servants to serve its guests, offered private bathrooms (an unprecedented amenity at the time) and ran advertisements featuring a fireplace in every room. Some critics has argued that the success of the hotel is a sign that elite New Yorkers were rejecting the republican values of their forefathers, and had begun to value grandeur, luxury and comfort instead.

Notable events and uses

The hotel was host to numerous notable guests, both foreign and domestic, and was, for a time, the most exclusive hotel in the city, and the center of social life for elite New Yorkers. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, Major General

George B. McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey. A graduate of West Point, McCl ...

moved into the hotel shortly after he was relieved from command of the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

in November 1862, after his failure to crush Robert E. Lee's

Army of Northern Virginia The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most oft ...

at the

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

. Nevertheless, McClellan, a Democrat, was received as a hero in New York, the North's largest Democratic stronghold. The day that he arrived, the street in front of the hotel was crammed with cheering and shouting people hoping for a sight of him, while a band played and a local militiaman set off a small piece of field artillery at intervals. The crowd reacted with even more enthusiasm when McClellan made an appearance on a hotel balcony. Two years later, shortly before Election Day, as the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, McClellan reviewed a massive torchlight parade of his supporters from a balcony of the hotel. It was one of only two personal appearances he made during the entire election campaign, which he lost to

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. McClellan once again received the approbation of a crowd of supporters from a Fifth Avenue Hotel balcony on September 29, 1868, when the Civil War veterans of the McClellan Legion – an organization of veterans, formed for the 1864 campaign, charged with getting out the vote of soldiers who had been discharged or were on sick leave or furlough – marched past in review from dusk until almost midnight. President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

's presidential campaign began at a dinner party in the hotel, and he and his cabinet once held an official session there. The celebrity lawyer

Chester A. Arthur Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. He previously served as the 20th vice president under President James ...

– who later became

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

– kept a suite for his office; Edward, Prince of Wales, stayed here on his North American tour, as did his brother-in-law the

Duke of Argyll Duke of Argyll ( gd, Diùc Earraghàidheil) is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful ...

, Dom Pedro of Brazil and Prince

Agustín de Iturbide y Green , image = Agustin de Iturbide y Green 1884.jpg , image_size = 225px , caption = , succession = Head of the Imperial House of Mexico , predecessor = Agustín Jerónimo de Iturbide , reign = 1865–1925 , successor = María Jose ...

of Mexico, Maximilian's adopted son. The celebrated New York City physician, Dr.

John Franklin Gray John Franklin Gray (September 23, 1804 – June 9, 1882) was an American educator and physician, a pioneer in the field of homoeopathy and one of its first practitioners in the United States. He is also recognized as an important medical reforme ...

, lived at the hotel. The hotel was also "...a gathering place for fat cats like

Boss Tweed William Magear Tweed (April 3, 1823 – April 12, 1878), often erroneously referred to as William "Marcy" Tweed (see below), and widely known as "Boss" Tweed, was an American politician most notable for being the political boss of Tammany ...

Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made hi ...

, Jim Fisk and

Commodore Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

, who would trade stocks here after hours." When the superbly confident young Fisk – soon to be known as "Diamond Jim", one of the

Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Weste ...

's premier robber barons – first arrived in New York, he stayed at the Fifth Avenue Hotel until he was temporarily ruined. On October 20, 1873, representatives from

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, Columbia,

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

, and

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

Universities met at the Fifth Avenue Hotel to codify the first set of

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

rules. Before this meeting, each school had its own set of rules and games were usually played using the home team's own particular code. At this meeting, a list of rules, based more on

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

's rules than the rules of the recently founded

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

, was drawn up for intercollegiate football games.

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and ...

made the Fifth Avenue Hotel a setting in his novel ''

1876 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. * February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs i ...

'', for it was in a suite here that John C. Reid, editor of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' woke the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...

chairman

Zachariah Chandler Zachariah Chandler (December 10, 1813 – November 1, 1879) was an American businessman, politician, one of the founders of the Republican Party, whose radical wing he dominated as a lifelong abolitionist. He was mayor of Detroit, a four-term sen ...

, and worked out the campaign for the controversial presidential election of 1876. On May 21, 1881, the

United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

was founded in the Fifth Avenue Hotel.

"Amen Corner"

The Fifth Avenue Hotel was known as a stronghold of the Republican Party. From a corner nook in one of the public rooms, which he dubbed his "Amen Corner", Republican political boss

Thomas Collier Platt Thomas Collier Platt (July 15, 1833 – March 6, 1910), also known as Tom Platt

controlled patronage in New York City and state for a few years in the 1890s; here he held his "Sunday School", where projects did not go forward until they had his "amen".

Closing and demolition

The Fifth Avenue Hotel closed at midnight, April 4, 1908 and was demolished. It was reported that patrons of the hotel's bar spent $7,000 in drinks during its last day of operation.Blecher, George (August 3, 2018
"Murder, Politics and Architecture: The Making of Madison Square Park"
''

'' Its site was occupied in 1909 by an office building known as the Fifth Avenue Building (later changed to

Toy Center The Toy Center, also known as the International Toy Center, is a complex of buildings in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, New York City, that for many years was a hub for toy manufacturers and distributors in the United States. It consists ...

), designed by

Robert Maynicke Robert Maynicke (1849-1913) was an American architect. At his death, the ''New York Times'' called him "a pioneer in the building of modern loft buildings."Henry Lane Eno Henry Lane Eno was born in New York City on July 8, 1871; he died at Montacute House, Somerset, on September 28, 1928. A member of the Eno real estate and banking family, he was the son of Henry Clay Eno and his wife Cornelia, the daughter of Geo ...

. Until 2007 it housed the International Toy Center, which was filled with wholesale buyers come the February Toy Fair and then again in October. The old hotel's name was taken up by a Fifth Avenue Hotel at 24 Fifth Avenue, designed by

Emery Roth Emery Roth ( hu, Róth Imre, July 17, 1871 – August 20, 1948) was an American architect of Hungarian-Jewish descent who designed many of the definitive New York City hotels and apartment buildings of the 1920s and 1930s, incorporating Beaux-A ...

, later converted to apartments. A plaque on the

, the building currently on the site, commemorates the hotel.Mendelsohn, Joyce. "Madison Square" in

References

Informational notes Citations Bibliography *Wilson, Rufus Rockwell (1902) ''New York: Old & New: Its Story, Streets, and Landmarks''

External links

* {{Authority control 23rd Street (Manhattan) Buildings and structures demolished in 1908 Defunct hotels in Manhattan Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Demolished hotels in New York City Fifth Avenue Flatiron District History of Manhattan Hotel buildings completed in 1859