Draft Riots Research Paper

The area of New York City’s historic Yorkville neighborhood lies within the now prestigious Upper East Side, extending from East 79th Street to East 96th Street and East End Avenue to Third Avenue (Figure 1.1). Presently bordered by 1st Avenue, East 81st Street, 2nd Avenue, and East 82nd Street, Block 1544 originally lied within the farmlands of Thomas Marston; in 1816, Marston’s heirs and executors conveyed this land to Joshua Jones and the northerly part of this property, present-day East 82nd Street, eventually passed to Isaac Jones, Jr. When Isaac passed away without a will, the land was conveyed to his widow, Mary Jones, and their three children; in 1856, they partitioned the property. On December 3, 1858, Mary de Trobriand, née
These buildings were often referred to as “Railroad Tenements” because the rooms were connected in a linear order, like cars on a train; the interior rooms were often dark and musty, as only the very front room had windows and received any ventilation. Despite a widespread cholera epidemic in 1849 and draft riots during the 1850s, the first official investigation into tenement life did not occur until 1857. However, no real attention was given to the issue until the first Annual Report of 1866, when a health official described the conditions as deplorable; the “ houses were crowded, and badly ventilated, and lighted…stables and yards were filled with stagnant water, and many dark and damp cellars were inhabited.” As a result of further investigations, the Tenement House Act of 1867 was passed, finally giving legal definition to the term “tenement.” The law also required that there be a window in every sleeping room, a fire escape for every apartment, and one water closet for every twenty people. In 1879, the magazine The Plumber and Sanitary Engineer sponsored a tenement design competition; the goal was to improve the conditions of tenement construction and to also maximize landlord profits by creating more housing. The winner of the competition was James Ware’s “Dumbbell Tenement,” which had a narrow airshaft
Born in New York, Brandt started professionally practicing architecture in 1879. Though not a household name, Brandt, was responsible for several residential structures throughout the Upper East Side, including several within the landmarked West Chelsea and Carnegie Hill Historic Districts. Many buildings throughout these districts show the influence of the Queen Anne style, including the presence of classical floral motifs (i.e. the Tudor Rose and the sunflower) and sheet metal roof cornices. However, the most significant buildings relative to 314 and 316 East 82nd Street are 322-326 East 82nd Street. Though the first floor window grates and painted terracotta medallions of these buildings differ, the overall layout and fire balcony designs are identical. Like the Queen Anne-inspired buildings within the West Chelsea and Carnegie Hill neighborhoods, the Yorkville buildings feature the classical floral motif in the terracotta medallions framing the entrances and the pressed sheet metal roof