The E.V. Haughwout Building: The Palace of Glass and Iron
Why is it significant?
Step back to the northwest corner of Broadway and Broome Street to take in the breathtaking five-story palazzo of the Evert V. Haughwout Building. Completed in 1857 by architect John P.
Key Facts
| Place | The E.V. Haughwout Building: The Palace of Glass and Iron |
|---|---|
| Address | 488 Broadway, New York, NY 10013, USA |
| Geo Coordinates | 40.72180, -73.99950 |
| Part of Walk | New York: SoHo Cast-Iron Architecture and Artist Loft Galleries |
| Generated | Generated |
Step back to the northwest corner of Broadway and Broome Street to take in the breathtaking five-story palazzo of the Evert V. Haughwout Building. Completed in 1857 by architect John P. Gaynor with cast iron manufactured by Daniel Badger's Architectural Iron Works, this building is universally acknowledged as the supreme masterpiece of American cast-iron architecture. Gaynor modeled the rhythmic arches, fluted Corinthian columns, and keystoned heads on Jacopo Sansovino's celebrated sixteenth-century Library of Saint Mark in Venice.
Look closely at the repetitive modular beauty of the facade: ninety-two identical arched window openings wrap around the two exterior walls, creating a shimmering wall of glass and iron. Because cast-iron components were poured from reusable wooden molds, Gaynor achieved unparalleled sculptural richness at a fraction of the cost and time required for stone masonry. The building became an instant sensation, proving that mass production could generate timeless artistic elegance. Crowds of curious Victorian shoppers gathered outside to witness the elevator in operation, marveling at the effortless ascent that seemed to defy the fundamental laws of gravity and ushered in the vertical architecture of the modern city.
The Haughwout Building is equally monumental in engineering history. On March 23, 1857, inventor Elisha Graves Otis installed the world's very first commercial passenger safety elevator inside this department store. Powered by a steam engine in the basement, the elevator climbed at forty feet per minute, equipped with an automatic safety brake that prevented the car from falling if the cable snapped—the revolutionary breakthrough that made modern skyscrapers possible.
Inside this emporium, Mary Todd Lincoln shopped for presidential china in 1861, selecting a lavish gilded service for the White House state dining room.
Turn east down Broome Street toward Crosby and Mercer Streets to explore the vibrant corridor where radical artists reclaimed abandoned industrial lofts.