120 East 13th Street | Block : 558 | Lot #17

Building Date : 1845
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : William McCollough
Original Architect : Unkown

Description & Building Alterations

This three-story brick building was constructed in 1845, but the owner listed in the tax assessment for that year is illegible. In 1844 the owner is P.G. Stuyvesant, and by 1846 it has changed to William McCollough.

According to Joseph S. Page’s book Nonpareil Jack Dempsey: Boxing’s First World Middleweight Champion, the prominent prizefighter John Edward Kelly (better known as Nonpareil Jack Dempsey) opened a sporting club at 120 East 13th Street in 1885. This had formerly been the home of Billy Madden’s Athletic Hall. Dempsey was a nearly undefeated middleweight champion for the duration of his career, and one of the most popular athletes in the United States in the late 19th century.

The building has been stripped of its original historic ornament. The ground floor consists of a garage and two entry doors.

Block : 558 / Lot : 17 / Building Date : 1845 / Original Owner : William McCollough / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : Unknown

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What is the Building Blocks Project

What does a building mean to someone who lives there? A person who lives on the block? In the neighborhood? In the city? This site presents a wealth of historic information gained from GVSHP’s architectural research survey about the buildings located in the East Village.

The site explores the area generally considered today as the East Village: from a northern border of 14th Street to a southern border of Houston Street, Avenue D in the east to 4th Avenue/the Bowery to the west. You can explore the information about the blocks and buildings featured here in two ways.

Pick a block. Maybe it’s yours, or perhaps it is just your favorite place to shop, grab a bite, or just people watch. Then explore the buildings that make up that block. Or take one of the many guided tours on the site, curated by a collection of organizations and experts from the neighborhood. See how they experience the neighborhood. Then tell us what the neighborhood means to you. The site’s comments section allows you to open a dialogue with others who feel just as passionately as you do about the East Village.