Lamartine Place Historic District

This small group of twelve row houses once belonged to a block-long row of similar structures, built by developers William Torrey and Cyrus Mason in the mid-nineteenth century. The development originally included a park on the south side of 29th Street, creating a desirable area that attracted prominent New Yorkers. Two such residents were Abby and James Sloan Gibbons, whose role as important abolitionists lends significance to this historic district. Their residence at No. 339 West 29th was a frequent meeting place for the like-minded, and served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. In fact, the home was such a prominently known gathering spot that it was targeted and burned down in the Draft Riots of 1863. During the attack, some members of the Gibbons family hid at the home of Abby Gibbon’s sister (No. 355 West 29th Street).

The diversity of Chelsea in the mid-nineteenth century was perhaps what attracted the Gibbons’ to the neighborhood; each block varied in character. Here, upwardly striving middle class families who occupied developments like Lamartine Place, coexisted with communities of free African Americans; a small community existed just east of Lamartine Place. After the Civil War the area began to also attract a bohemian, artistic set, as the areas north and west of 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue developed into an entertainment district.

As the 20th century progressed, the character of Chelsea changed with the creation of Penn Station to the north, and factories and warehouses cropped up to serve the areas more industrial nature. The residences south of Lamartine Place were demolished in the 1960s for the Penn South development. Despite these sweeping changes, the twelve residences at Lamartine Place serve as a rare reminder of a significant chapter in our city’s history. ©2014