{"nrhp_refnum":"80002675","name":"Building at 85 Leonard Street","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"85 Leonard St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.71749357500005,"lon":-74.00482447899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story cast-iron commercial building at 85 Leonard Street in Manhattan, New York City, erected in 1860-61 and designed and built by James Bogardus.","why_significant":"It is the only surviving building in New York City designed and built by James Bogardus, a pioneer of cast-iron construction. It is also one of the few remaining cast-iron buildings in the so-called \"sperm candle\" style, with two-story columns. The nomination values it for the intricate cast-iron detail and for its role in the development of iron architecture.","narrative":"Five stories of cast iron face Leonard Street in Manhattan at number 85, built in 1860-61 by James Bogardus. It is the only building he designed and built that still survives in New York City. The three-bay facade uses two tiers of tall fluted columns, each spanning two floors and separated by spandrel panels, a design known as the \"sperm candle\" style because the columns resemble candles made from sperm whale oil. Rope moldings, foliate motifs, lions' heads and small carved heads decorate the front. Neighboring buildings are similar but largely of stone, and the cast iron allowed far more delicate detail at lower cost. Bogardus described himself as the inventor of cast-iron buildings and helped spread iron fronts and iron structural systems. The building was leased in 1860 to a trio who became drygoods merchants. Its facade remains largely intact, while the interior now serves as storage and retains pressed tin ceilings and steep wooden stairways.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"James Bogardus","architectural_style":"Cast-iron architecture in the so-called \"sperm candle\" style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied; the interior is used as storage for a drygoods company. The facade detail is intact except for a fire escape, and the interior has largely been stripped of its original detailing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:42.565219-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002675.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002675/71d9a89f12-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002675/71d9a89f12-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Beyond My Ken","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kitchen,_Montross_%26_Wilcox_Store_85_Leonard_Street.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Beyond My Ken</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kitchen,_Montross_%26_Wilcox_Store_85_Leonard_Street.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319338","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen,_Montross_%26_Wilcox_Store","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6417952"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/building-at-85-leonard-street-80002675/"}