Hunt's Hotel, Whitehall and South Streets

The old Hunt's Hotel on the corner of Whitehall and South streets, City of New York, between 1853 and 1856. Lithograph and printed in colors by Sarony & Co. New York. Source: Yale University Art Gallery. Napoleon Sarony (1821-1896) was a Canadian-born artist and photographer. He moved to New York in 1836 and worked as a lithographer for Nathaniel Currier until he established his own firm in 1843.

The 5-story Hunt's Hotel was built in the early 1850s and opened in the first half of 1853 (maybe before) at 64 Whitehall Street, corner of South St., by John E. Hunt. Continue below...

In 1857, the hotel changed its name to Eastern Hotel, occupying the same address (64 Whitehall Street, corner of South St.). On June 17, 1858, the hotel was offered for sale in the New York Herald, after "been recently renovated and newly fitted up... Owing to ill health the proprietor is obliged to sell...". The Eastern Hotel continued to operate on the same site, from 1859 to the early 20th century. The hotel became famous in the days when Castle Garden, in the Battery, was a showplace. The hotel was remodeled into lofts by 1921. Today, the site is occupied by the 50-story skyscraper 1 New York Plaza. Its construction was announced in 1967 and the skyscraper was completed in 1969.

Fragment of the View of the City of New York by Charles Parsons, dated 1856, showing Hunt's Hotel, corner of Whitehall St. and South St.

Fragment of the View of the City of New York by John Bachmann, 1850, showing the former buildings, before the construction of Hunt's Hotel.