Murray Hill Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Why it's listed
Five blocks of Midtown Manhattan between Park and Lexington Avenues, from East 35th to East 39th Streets, make up this residential district. Its core is a set of brownstone-fronted row houses built mostly in the 1850s, many in an Italianate style. Each block is characterized by a row of perhaps a dozen such houses, although many have been altered with stucco, replacement windows or changed cornices. Along Park Avenue, early 20th century apartment houses and hotels in restrained neo-Classical and neo-Georgian styles show the area's later growth. Notable buildings include a Renaissance Revival mansion designed by Stanford White, a Beaux-Arts mansion by Hoppin & Koen, and the Church of the New Jerusalem, an Italian Renaissance Revival church of 1858-59. The district counts 88 contributing buildings and 12 non-contributing ones, mostly heavily altered row houses. It was listed because it remains one of the last intact 19th-century residential neighborhoods in Midtown.
Significance in brief: The form describes the district as one of the last intact 19th-century residential districts in Midtown Manhattan. It contains some of the city's oldest surviving brownstone-fronted row houses, mostly Italianate in style, which give the area a strong sense of place. Later apartment houses, hotels and a church on Park Avenue reflect the neighborhood's subsequent development.
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 13000039, listed February 27, 2013. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | E. 34th, 35th, 36th, 37th, 38th & 39th Sts., Lexington, Madison & Park Aves., Manhattan |
|---|---|
| County | Manhattan |
| Listed | February 27, 2013 |
| Reference number | 13000039 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Includes Stanford White (McKim, Mead & White), Carrere & Hastings, Hoppin & Koen, York & Sawyer, Gambrill and Post; builders include Washington A. Cronk, Samuel W. Cronk, Thomas Kilpatrick and James C. Hoe |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian (Italianate, Second Empire, Renaissance Revival); Beaux Arts, Colonial Revival, Classical Revival; neo-Moorish, neo-Romanesque; Art Deco |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Social History, Community Planning and Development |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Buildings remain largely in residential use, some as single-family homes and others divided into apartments, with apartment houses, hotels, churches and a club. Row houses survive with varying integrity. |
| Acreage | 27.4 |
| Coordinates | 40.75143, -73.97690 (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 13000039.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.