{"nrhp_refnum":"73001218","name":"Haughwout, E. V., Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"488-492 Broadway","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.723417952000034,"lon":-74.00236812699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-08-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story cast iron commercial building at 488-492 Broadway on the corner of Broome Street in Manhattan, New York City, built in 1857 by J.P. Gaynor.","why_significant":"The building is recognized as one of the most important examples of cast iron architecture in a city known as a pioneer of that form. Its facades repeat a single Palladian-arch unit ninety-two times, in a Venetian-inspired design. It also combined a load-bearing metal wall and frame with the first practicable suspended cable passenger elevator with automatic safety devices, designed by Elisha Graves Otis.","narrative":"Standing at the corner of Broadway and Broome Street in Manhattan, this five-story store was built in 1857 by J.P. Gaynor for E.V. Haughwout, a merchant of cut glass, silverware, clocks and chandeliers. Its west and south facades are cast iron, made up of one enframed Palladian-arch motif with columns repeated ninety-two times, topped by a bracketed cornice with a Corinthian entablature. The design is Venetian in inspiration and recalls Sansovino's Library of Saint Mark. Behind the iron front, the north and east sides are masonry bearing walls, with timber floors and cast iron interior columns. The building matters for two reasons: it is considered among the most important cast iron structures in a city that pioneered the technique, and it combined a load-bearing metal wall and frame with easy vertical movement of customers. Its elevator, designed by Elisha Graves Otis, was the first suspended cable type with automatic safety devices. The building remains virtually unchanged, including its original clock.","period_of_significance":"1857","architect_builder":"J.P. Gaynor (builder); elevator designed by Elisha Graves Otis","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is listed as good and altered is not marked; the form describes the building as virtually unchanged, with its original clock, and it is occupied with commercial use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:38.89269-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/73001218.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001218/da78a57f9d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001218/da78a57f9d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"ajay_suresh","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:E.V._Haughwout_Building_(52142427309).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">ajay_suresh</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:E.V._Haughwout_Building_(52142427309).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"78001883","name":"Soho Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/soho-historic-district-78001883/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319588","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._V._Haughwout_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1589264"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/haughwout-e-v-building-73001218/"}