Howard Hotel (New York City)

The Howard Hotel, also referred to as Howard's Hotel or the Howard House, was a well-known New York City hotel in the mid-19th century, located in Lower Manhattan at the corner of Broadway and Maiden Lane (176 Broadway).[1][2][3]

Howard Hotel
Howard Hotel in 1864
Map
General information
Location176 Broadway, Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates40°42′36″N 74°00′35″W / 40.7099°N 74.0096°W / 40.7099; -74.0096
Opened1840
Demolished1864

History

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The six-story hotel (161 feet in front and 130 feet deep, with a dining room of 160 by 30 feet) opened in March 1840.[4] Hoteliers Daniel D. Howard and John P. Howard were its early proprietors.[5] They were sons of John Howard, who long operated a hotel in Burlington, Vermont.[6] By the late 1850s, J.E. Kingsley and Ainslee had taken over as proprietors.[7]

U.S. President John Tyler stayed at the hotel on the night of June 25, 1842, the day before his marriage to Julia Gardiner Tyler.[8] The hotel owners locked up the servants to prevent press leaks, so the wedding took the world by surprise.[9]

Later African-American politician Tunis Campbell was the principal waiter at the hotel for some time (at least from 1842-45), and later wrote a well-regarded 1848 guide to hotel management.[10]

The hotel was among those which the "Confederate Army of Manhattan" attempted to burn down in November 1864.[11]

Demise

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The building was converted into offices in 1868.[12][13]

The location of the hotel is now occupied by the Cushman Building (1898) designed by C. P. H. Gilbert on the corner,[14][15] and the building adjoining it to the north on Broadway.

References

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