Potter Building

Manhattan, United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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The Potter Building stands in Manhattan's Financial District along Beekman Street, a pioneering iron-framed office structure designed by Norris G. Starkweather and erected between 1883 and 1886. Combining Queen Anne and neo-Grec styles, it replaced the destroyed headquarters of the New York World (which burned in 1882) and was named for developer Orlando B. Potter. The building exemplified cutting-edge fireproofing technology of its era, incorporating rolled iron beams, cast iron columns, brick walls, tile arches, and terracotta. Among the first iron-framed buildings, it also pioneered a C-shaped floor plan with an exterior courtyard facing Beekman Street—a design largely preserved to the present day. Originally housing media and legal tenants, it was converted to apartments between 1979 and 1981. Designated a New York City landmark in 1996, it remains a contributing property to the Fulton–Nassau Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Architect

Norris Garshom Starkweather

Movement

Queen Anne style

Built: 1886
Type: office building
Heritage: New York City Landmark, National Register of Historic Places contributing property
Place: Manhattan, United States

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Location

40.71161, -74.00658