220 East 13th Street | Block : 468 | Lot #19

Description & Building Alterations

This four-story building was built as part of a row of brownstone row houses that began at 206 East 13th Street and stretched eastward down the block ending with this building. The original brownstone of the facade has been stuccoed over and most of the details have been lost: the lintels have been shaved down, the over-sized windows on the parlor floor have been altered, and the stoop has been changed. The building still retains its cornice and door surround, however. The building was originally a single-family home that was converted into the Home for the Aged and Infirm Deaf-Mutes from 1874 to 1885. It was established by Reverend Thomas Gallaudet, the head priest at for St. Ann’s Church for Deaf Mutes, which still operates today under St. George’s Episcopal Church on East 16th Street. The charity was unique in that it was not a school, but rather a home for the elderly or disabled in the deaf community. The home was run by Jane Middleton, a philanthropist who worked in the city, helping women and the disadvantaged from 1864 until her death in 1885.