Daily Times Building at 138 Nassau Street

The New-York Daily Times was the former name of The New York Times, founded in 1851. Its first headquarters was established at 113 Nassau Street and the first issue of the newspaper was published on September 18, 1851. Since the beginning, the Raymond, Jones & Co. (Henry Jarvis Raymond was the editor) also published the New-York Evening Times and the New-York Weekly Times from the same building. The Times for California began to be published on October 11, 1852.

More: beginning of The New York Times ►

By the end of the first year it was clear that there was a need for more space for the newspaper. By the early 1854 the company (then Raymond, Harper & Co.) leased a six-story building (image on the right) at 138 Nassau Street, northeast corner of Beekman Street. The building originally erected in the 1840s was expanded in the previous months and housed the New York Observer, founded in 1823 by the Morse brothers, owners of the building. The building was enlarged before 1857. Across the street stood the old Brick Church.

On May 2, 1854, the Daily Times began to be published in the new premises. In September, the same year, The Semi-Weekly Times began to be published every Tuesday and Friday. It was made up expressly for the mails, containing all the reading matter of the Daily.

In February 1856, the company's name changed again to Raymond, Wesley & Co. On July 1st, the same year, The Times for Europe began to be published on the departure of every mail steamer. The newspaper continued to grow and, again, needed more space.

The property of the Brick Church block was sold at auction on May 14, 1856, and demolition of the temple began on March 14, 1857. Two buildings were erected on the site: the Times Building, facing Spruce Street, and the Park Building, facing Beekman St. The cornerstone of the Times Building was laid on May 12, 1857.

On September 14, 1857, the newspaper was renamed The New-York Times (the hyphen in the title was dropped in 1896).

The new five-story Times Building was completed in 1858, with new presses and machinery. The staff moved into the new headquarters on May 1, 1858.

The 6-story building at 138 Nassau Street continued to be occupied by the New-York Observer and shared by other newspapers. In 1859, it housed the Park Hotel. The building was demolished by May 1878 and replaced by the current 14-story Morse Building, constructed from June 1878 to March 1880.