Everett House at Fourth Avenue and
17th Street, north side of Union Square. Illustration published in the Frank
Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, May 10, 1856. Original title: Arrival of Mr.
Buchanan at the Everett House, Union Park, New York.
In 1856, Democrat James Buchanan was elected president in a three-way contest, defeating Republican John C. Frémont and American Party nominee Millard Fillmore. Buchanan, a former Secretary of State and ambassador to Great Britain, was from Pennsylvania. James Buchanan became the 15th President of the United States (1857-1861). The illustration represents the moment when Buchanan’s carriage arrived at the entrance door of the Everett House, where the best suite of rooms was selected for the distinguished statesman. The newspaper wrote: "The scene was unusually animate d, and the effect was heightened by the happy contrast of the rural charms, which, at this season of the year are so profuse within the precincts of Union Park. Among our magnificent hotels, no one was more unostentatiously opened, or has gone on more steadily in establishing a high character than the Everett House. Situated opposite Union Park, one of the most magnificent breathing places in our city, its front buried up in green foliage, it may be said to repose in the very heart of the most fashionable quarter of our great metropolis — its inmates enjoying the luxuries of city life joined with a suburban quiet, and the delights of a country atmosphere. Conducted by Mr. Hawley D. Clapp, whose management of the Fort Hamilton House gave him an unsurpassed reputation, and named after one of our most distinguished scholars, it seems to have appropriated to itself a classic elegance. When Mr. Everett was the guest of the Mercantile Library Association, this hotel was selected as the most appropriate place for his temporary sojourn."
This old 5-story Everett House opened in 1853. The building was demolished in 1908 and the site is now occupied by the Everett Building.
