Johnson Ironworks Corporate Office

[COGGINSS]

On FB, someone mentioned that they believed 1 Riverdale Avenue was the office of the Johnson Ironworks.

Does anyone have any knowledge that that night be true?

[Thomas Casey]

I posted that an old timer told me that the building was used to pay Johnson factory workers their payroll

[Peter Ostrander]

Public records show it was built 1910 but most early building land records dates  are suspect  so could have been  used by johnson foundry at one time.

[COGGINSS]

I’m going to try to do some digging. If this is a Johnson Foundry office of import, perhaps we should consider some kind of historical marking. It would be an absolute shame to lose this beautiful landmark to another “luxury rental”.

[ndembowski]

I did manage to find out a few things about it.  For everyone’s reference, we are talking about this building at Riverdale Avenue and 230th Street :

I’ve always gotten a kick out of the architecture because of the stepped roof–an apparent nod to New York’s Dutch colonial history.

It was built to be a printing press.  The 1910 construction date in the city records might be accurate but The Underwriters Press set up business in the building in 1912:

April 30, 1912 Printing Trade News

There were not a lot of buildings around it when it was built.  Alan Lasky found this photo:

View looking west toward Spuyten Duyvil Hill not long after 1915. 1 Riverdale Ave is bottom center. “Tippett House” is on the far right. Further up the hill is 520 W. 230th St..  A 1914 Sanborn Insurance Map:

There were 10 people working there and they did print some books such as:

So, it was not built for the Johnson foundry but . . .

A 1922 issue of the Real Estate and Builders’ Guide shows the Underwriters Press selling property in our area to the “Estate of Isaac G Johnson.”  So, the Johnsons may have purchased it and used it as an office after its life as a printing press:

 

[Peter Ostrander]

Believe the location of the iron railing in foreground of the 1915 photo indicates it was taken from the Godwin Island bridge that once ran parallel to Broadway at 230th Street over the old Spuyten Duyvil creek at that time filled in.  Today the bridge would have been  from Dunkin Donuts south across 230th St  to SW corner and Marble Hill houses.

[COGGINSS]

Oh….so disappointing!

 

I was hoping I potentially found the last remaining Johnson Foundry bldg, not just a office space they acquired.
<p style=”text-align: center;”>Maybe this printing house has a story…</p>
 

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