History and architecture
No. 359 Broadway, on the west side of Broadway between Leonard and Franklin streets, is a distinguished early Italianate commercial building constructed in 1852, a time when this section of Broadway was the city's most prestigious shopping area, containing a number of fashionable daguerreotype studios. An important and unusual example of the Italianate style, this stone-fronted commercial building, with its distinctive and varied window openings and abundant ornament, is a blend of Italianate elements from several sources.
The 359 Broadway Building has special historical significance because it was occupied by noted photographer Matthew B. Brady from 1853-59. Brady, one of the most important photographers in American history, was renowned for both his portraits and his numerous photographs of the Civil War which are still the primary visual document of that conflict. As the city expanded northward from the southern tip of Manhattan in the 1840s and 1850s, this area became a prosperous neighborhood of shops, saloons, and photographers devoted to serving the fashionable clientele that made Broadway the city's most distinguished promenade.
Remarkably intact, No. 359 Broadway serves as a significant reminder of the area's glittering past as a premier shopping district and as a home to the studio of one of America's most noted nineteenth-century photographers, Matthew Brady.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.