Charlton-King-Vandam Historic District
Why it's listed
Charlton, King and Vandam Streets in Manhattan form a small residential enclave of Federal and Greek Revival town houses. The land was once the Richmond Hill estate, site of a mansion used by George Washington as headquarters and later owned by Aaron Burr. Burr laid out city lots in 1797, and after his departure from the city John Jacob Astor took over the property. The mansion was rolled down the hill to Charlton and Varick Streets and used as a theatre, the hill was leveled, and local builders put up speculative houses, mostly in the early and mid-1820s. After an 1840 fire, Greek Revival houses replaced four Federal ones on Charlton Street's north side. Early residents included builders, lawyers and merchants, and many houses stayed in the same families for generations. Commercial buildings and trucking arrived at the Varick Street corners in the 1920s, yet the streets kept their domestic character. Original steps, ironwork, dormers and doorways survive, and the district is valued as a homogeneous neighborhood of rare architectural merit.
Significance in brief: The district is an exceptionally well preserved cross-section of old New York, with some of the finest Federal and Greek Revival town houses in the city. It is what remains of a plan mapped in 1797 on the former Richmond Hill estate and almost fully built between 1820 and 1829. The single-decade development gave the streets a continuity and homogeneity that survives today.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 73001215, listed July 20, 1973. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by Varick, Vandam, MacDougal and King Sts., New York |
|---|---|
| County | Manhattan |
| Listed | July 20, 1973 |
| Reference number | 73001215 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Local builders erected the first houses as speculations; Minard Lafever is mentioned only as a stylistic association for 34 King Street. |
| Architectural style | Federal and Greek Revival town houses |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition is marked good and altered; the area remains a residential community with many refurbished, owner-occupied houses. |
| Acreage | 5 |
| Within district | South Village Historic District |
| Coordinates | 40.72739, -74.00367 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 73001215.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5086283
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.