Story
Ellen S. Auchmuty Building
One of the most interesting structures in the State and National Register of Historic Places South Street Seaport Historic Districts is the Romanesque Revival building that was erected in 1885 for Ellen S. Auchmuty, a Schermerhorn family descendent.
It was designed by George B. Post, an architect trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition, who also designed the old New York Times Building (1889) at Printing House Square, Bronx Borough Hall (1897), and the New York Stock Exchange (1904).
142 Beekman Street
It appears that no applications for alterations have been filed for the building since it was built, and the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) assumed, in its 1976 report, that the corner building remained, beside general aging, as it appeared when it was first constructed!
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142 Beekman Street
The building was occupied by businesses associated with the Fulton Fish Market since day one, and this connection is strongly visible in the exciting and playful terracotta elements designed by Post: starfish tie-rod washers, fish keystones sporting dolphins, and a cockle-shell roof cornice.
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146-148 Beekman Street
An early and long-time tenant was Western Union, which helped fishing captains to receive orders and telegraph messages about catches and storms.
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142 Beekman Street
It underwent a light restoration in the 1980s and like many other buildings in the neighborhood its occupants changed following the taste of the district residents and visitors, including other types of businesses not related to the fish market, including restaurants, and more recently a beloved flower shop.
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