222 East 13th Street | Block : 468 | Lot #20

Description & Building Alterations

222 East 13th Street was built as the home to the family of an important figure of the Civil War, Henry Tremain. Henry and Walter Tremain were the sons of the original owners, Edwin Ruthven Tremain and Mary Briggs. Moving into the home in 1855, the Tremain family resided there through the war until 1868. Henry Tremain’s service during the Civil War was highly impactful. He received the Medal of Honor in May 1864. The building was purchased from the family by State Senator Henry R. Low in 1868 and was converted into a rental property, housing a wide range of tenants.

After World War I the neighborhood around the house became significantly less prosperous and its reputation declined, and the house was converted to rented rooms. One rooming house resident in 1920 was found to have been involved in the theft of $250,000 of platinum from a government gunpowder plant near Nashville, TN.

By the 1980s, the structure had been dubbed a “notorious crackhouse” on a block which had become synonymous with murder and mayhem in the public consciousness, thanks to its use in the film “Taxi Driver.” In 1989 the house was the subject of a firebombing which damaged it extensively, leading the city to take possession of the building. It remained vacant and boarded up for two decades until work began on converting it to the Bea Arthur Residence.

Block : 468 / Lot : 020 / Building Date : 1848 / Original Owner : Charles B. White / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : Unknown