View source for Jefferson Market Library

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Jefferson Market Library<br />(Third Judicial District Courthouse)
| nrhp_type = nhl
| image = Jefferson Market Library at sunset.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = At sunset in 2024
| location = 425 [[Avenue of the Americas]]<br />[[Manhattan]], [[New York City]]
| district_map = {{Maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=250|frame-height=250|zoom=14|type=point|marker=|title=Jefferson Market Library}}
| coordinates = {{coord|40|44|5|N|73|59|57|W|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| built = 1874–1877
| architect = [[Frederick Clarke Withers]]
| architecture = [[Gothic revival architecture|High Victorian Gothic]]<ref name=nycland />
| designated_nrhp_type = December 22, 1977<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1245&ResourceType=Building |title=Third Judicial District Courthouse |date=2007-09-19 |work=National Historic Landmark summary listing |publisher=National Park Service |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817185940/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1245&ResourceType=Building |archive-date=2009-08-17 }}</ref>
| added = November 9, 1972<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
| refnum = 72000875
| mpsub = 
| designated_other1 = New York State Register of Historic Places
| designated_other1_num_position = bottom
| designated_other1_number = 06101.000423
| designated_other1_abbr = NYSRHP
| designated_other1_date = June 23, 1980<ref name="Cultural Resource Information System">{{cite web | title=Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS) | publisher=[[New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation]] | date=November 7, 2014 | url=https://cris.parks.ny.gov/ | access-date=July 20, 2023}}</ref>
}}

The '''Jefferson Market Branch''' of the [[New York Public Library]], once known as the '''Jefferson Market Courthouse''', is a [[National Historic Landmark]] located at 425 [[Avenue of the Americas]] (Sixth Avenue), on the southwest corner of [[10th Street (Manhattan)|West 10th Street]], in [[Greenwich Village]], [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]], on a triangular plot formed by [[Greenwich Avenue]] and West 10th Street. It was originally built as the '''Third Judicial District Courthouse''' from 1874 to 1877, and was designed by architect [[Frederick Clarke Withers]] of the firm of Vaux and Withers.

Though faced with demolition in 1958, public outcry led to its reuse as a branch of the New York Public Library. The building is now part of the [[New York City Landmark Preservation Commission]]'s [[Greenwich Village Historic District]], created in 1969.<ref name=nycland>{{cite nycland|pages=53-54}}</ref> In addition, the building was placed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1972<ref name="nris"/> and made a National Historic Landmark in 1977.<ref name="nhlsum"/> The ''[[AIA Guide to New York City]]'' calls the building "A mock [[Neuschwanstein Castle|Neuschwansteinian]] assemblage ... of leaded glass, steeply sloping roofs, [[gable]]s, [[pinnacle]]s, Venetian Gothic embellishments, and an intricate tower and clock; one of the City's most remarkable buildings."<ref name=aia />

==Early history and architecture==
A tall octagonal wooden [[fire lookout tower]] was the first building on the site, built circa 1833, located in the center of the merchants' sheds at the Jefferson Market that had been established at this site in 1832 and named for the [[Thomas Jefferson|late President]]. Court sessions were held in the Jefferson Assembly Rooms that rose above the market sheds. The wood tower and the market structures were torn down by the city to build a new courthouse, the adjacent [[Jefferson Market Prison]] building that stood on the corner of West 10th Street and Greenwich Avenue and new coordinated market housing (built in 1883). Of the carefully massed eclectic and picturesque group, only the former Courthouse now remains.

The commission for the new courthouse went to the firm of Vaux and Withers, but as [[Calvert Vaux]] was busy with the [[American Museum of Natural History]] and the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], the design fell to his partner, the English-born [[Frederick Clarke Withers]].<ref name=inside>{{cite inside}} pp.135-136</ref>  Withers came from the same background as Vaux,<ref name=inside /> so it is not unusual that his [[Gothic revival architecture|High Victorian Gothic]] design was similar in some respects to the "[[John Ruskin|Ruskinian Gothic]]" aesthetic of Vaux's early buildings, such as in its polychrome materials &ndash; red brick, black stone, white granite, yellow [[sandstone]] trim and variegated roof slates.  Reasoning that a building with a clock tower was going to look like a church no matter what he did, Withers decided to add church-like touches with non-religious content, such as the [[tympanum (architecture)|tympanum]] which shows a scene from ''The Merchant of Venice'' instead of the usual scene of Christ sitting in judgment or other ecclesiastical subject matter.<ref name=inside />  The building also features stained glass windows and a fountain decorated with birds and animals.<ref name=nycland />

The courthouse was completed in 1877, and in 1885 a panel of American architects sponsored by ''American Architect and Building News'' voted it the fifth most beautiful building in America.<ref name=nycland />

[[File:Jefferson Market Court, southwest corner of Sixth Avenue and West 10th Street, looking north from southwest corner of Sixth Avenue and West 9th Street, Manhattan (NYPL b13668355-482552) (retouched).jpg|thumb|left|225px|Jefferson Market Court in 1935, with the [[IRT Sixth Avenue Line]] in front of it.  Photograph by [[Berenice Abbott]] (1935)]]

==Use and reuse==
The building got substantial use as a courthouse, as the Third Judicial District covered the [[Madison Square]] area, where the city's entertainment district &ndash; [[Tenderloin, Manhattan|The Tenderloin]] &ndash; was located. So heavy was the traffic, that the country's first night [[court]] began there.<ref name=inside /> Among the more noted people arraigned in the courthouse was [[Harry K. Thaw]], the murderer of celebrity architect [[Stanford White]].<ref name=inside />

The building ceased to be used as a courthouse in 1945;<ref name="nyt-1961sept10">{{cite news |title=To Keep the Best of New York |author=Huxtable, Ada Louise |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 10, 1961}}</ref> its future was uncertain, and it was in danger of being torn down. A group of community preservationists led by [[Margot Gayle]] and [[Ruth Wittenberg]] formed the Committee of Neighbors to Get the Clock on Jefferson Market Courthouse Started and campaigned to have the building converted into a library.<ref name=aia>{{cite aia5|page=144}}</ref> In 1961, the [[New York Public Library]] agreed to the plan and architect [[Giorgio Cavaglieri]] was brought in to restore the exterior<ref name=aia /> and redesign the building's interior for its new use &ndash; one of the first [[adaptive reuse]] projects in the United States, and a signal event in the [[historic preservation]] movement.<ref name=nycland /> The restoration is estimated to have cost $1.4 million.<ref name="1974nyt">{{cite news |last=Siegal |first=Allan M. |date=October 11, 1974 |title=Staff Cuts Forcing 3 Library Closings |newspaper=The New York Times |id={{ProQuest|119957639}} }}</ref>  The library opened in 1967,<ref name=nycland /> with the police court becoming the Children's Reading Room, the Civil Court the Adult Reading Room.<ref>Gold, Joyce. ''From Trout Stream to Bohemia:  A Walking Guide to Greenwich Village History'' 1988:89.</ref>  Budget cutbacks in 1974 caused the Board of Trustees of the New York Public Library to vote to close the branch, as well as two others.<ref name="1974nyt" />  After an outcry from residents, the decision was rescinded one month later.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ide |first=Reed |date=November 12, 1974 |title=Jefferson Library: We Won This Round But The Struggle Is Far From Over |newspaper=The Villager }}</ref>

The building was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1972 and was declared a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1977, both under the name "Third Judicial District Courthouse".<ref name="nhlsum"/><ref name="nrhpinv">{{cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=72000875}}|title=Third Judicial District Courthouse (Jefferson Market Courthouse)|date= May 24, 1977|author= Carolyn Pitts|work=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref><ref name="nrhpphotos">{{cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=72000875|photos=y}}|title=Third Judicial District Courthouse (Jefferson Market Courthouse)--Accompanying photos and drawing, exterior and interior, from c.1880 and undated.|work=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination (photos)|date=1977-05-24|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>

The building received further restoration in 1994 by preservationist architect [[Joseph Pell Lombardi]].<ref name=aia />{{clear left}}

==Recent history==
[[File:Jefferson Market Library.ogg|thumb|right|275px|Video architectural tour of the Jefferson Market Library]]

In 1996 "Ol' Jeff", the fire bell, silent in the Tower for 135 years, regained its voice with Margot Gayle's help, thanks to Cynthia Crane and Marilyn Dorato.  It strikes the hours from 9am to 10pm.  On April 13, 1997, ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote:  "The bell has newly and unexpectedly connected the community surrounding the building on Avenue of the Americas at 10th Street, helping to put the concept of village back in Greenwich Village; it serves as a powerful, an hourly, reminder of the values of [[historic preservation|architectural preservation]]."<ref>Frank, Michael. [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/11/arts/old-bell-regains-its-voice-and-a-community-resounds.html "Old Bell Regains Its Voice and a Community Resounds"] ''[[The New York Times]]'' (April 11, 1997)</ref>

There are annual tours of the tower, typically during [[Open House New York]] weekend in October.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}
[[File:Jefferson Market Library at golden hour.jpg|thumb|The main entrance to the Jefferson Market Library]]
By 2012 the building's exterior was once again in need of restoration, deteriorated ornaments were re-sculpted from the original Ohio sandstone. The tower's railings and finial were repaired and resecured. Missing and broken slates were replaced on the slate roof and a new copper drainage system installed. Brick and stone were re-pointed and cleaned. SUPERSTRUCTURES Engineers + Architects led the restoration. The owners and project team were honored by the [[New York Landmarks Conservancy]] with its Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award in 2014.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

The building had further improvements in 2019 to bring it in compliance with the [[Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990]].<ref name="WESTVIEW NEWS 2019">{{cite web | title=Jefferson Market Library Gets ADA Rehab | website=WESTVIEW NEWS | date=June 7, 2019 | url=http://westviewnews.org/2019/06/06/jefferson-market-library-gets-ada-rehab/gcapsis/ | access-date=January 8, 2024}}</ref> It reopened in July 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The New York Public Library's Jefferson Market Branch Reopens Following Significant Improvements to Historic Building |url=https://www.nypl.org/press/press-release/july-14-2022/new-york-public-librarys-jefferson-market-branch-reopens-following |access-date=2022-08-28 |website=The New York Public Library}}</ref><ref name="Ginsburg 2022 a392">{{cite web | last=Ginsburg | first=Aaron | title=NYPL's historic Jefferson Market branch in Greenwich Village reopens after $10M overhaul | website=6sqft | date=July 15, 2022 | url=https://www.6sqft.com/nypls-historic-jefferson-market-branch-in-greenwich-village-reopens-after-10m-overhaul/ | access-date=January 8, 2024}}</ref>

The library manager is Frank Collerius who also presents the New York Public Library's podcast ''The Librarian Is In''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=You Can't Always Get What You Want: The Librarian Is In Podcast, Ep. 98 |url=https://www.nypl.org/blog/2018/07/02/librarian-podcast-ep-98 |access-date=2022-08-28 |website=The New York Public Library |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of National Historic Landmarks in New York City]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan below 14th Street]]

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|NYPL Jefferson Market Branch}}
* {{Official website|https://www.nypl.org/locations/jefferson-market}}
* [http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GV/GV028JeffersonMarketLibrary.htm Jefferson Market Library] at NYC Architecture
* {{cite web |url= http://wotan.liu.edu/~amatsuuchi/historical_timeline.html |title= Jefferson Market: From Courthouse to Library |format= Timeline |publisher= Long Island University |url-status= dead |archive-date= 2003-08-05 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030805005433/http://wotan.liu.edu/~amatsuuchi/historical_timeline.html }}
* [http://www.nylandmarks.org/events/moses_awards/the_24th_lucy_g._moses_preservation_awards/ <nowiki>http://www.nylandmarks.org/events/moses_awards/the_24th_lucy_g._moses_preservation_awards/ New York Landmarks Conservancy]</nowiki>] 
* [http://gvshp.org/blog/2014/05/08/lucy-moses-honors/ The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation]

{{Greenwich Village}}
{{Education in Manhattan}}
{{Libraries in New York City}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Clock towers in New York City]]
[[Category:Courthouses in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Library buildings completed in 1877]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Manhattan]]
[[Category:New York Public Library branches in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Sixth Avenue]]
[[Category:West Village]]
[[Category:Frederick Clarke Withers buildings]]
[[Category:1877 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:New York State Register of Historic Places in New York County]]