History and architecture
Distinguished by its picturesque gabled roof and striking dark brick trim, the Fleming Smith Warehouse is an impressive commercial building on the Southeast corner of Washington and Watts Streets in the warehouse district on the lower west side of Manhattan. This area, once among the city's finest residential sections, contained one of its loveliest parks--St. John's Park. In 1867, the trustees of Trinity Church who owned the park and a majority of the owners of the houses bordering it agreed to sell the park to Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt who then erected a railroad depot on the site. From then on, the area rapidly became commercial.
The building was constructed for Fleming Smith in 1891-92 and designed as a warehouse by Stephen Decatur Hatch with handsome neo-Flemish and Romanesque Revival features. By 1898, the building was being used for the storage of wine and the manufacture of shoes
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.