1887-1922: West 102nd Street and Riverside Drive, NE Corner
By Caitlin Hawke
The Foster Mansion sat on the northeast corner of Riverside Drive and W. 102nd Street prior to the construction of what is now 300 Riverside Drive.
Thanks to an old Block Association newsletter, I can tell you something more about this beauty in a post that is a mash-up of "One from the Vault" and "Throwback Thursday."
Ginger Lief, a valued neighborhood archive-lover and historian presented information about the home here in our 2002 newsletter:
[For some forty years], a fine residence stood on the northeast corner of Riverside Drive and W. 102nd Street. It was built from 1887 to 1888 for William F. Foster who lived there with his wife, Bertha. The architect of the brick mansion was Halstead Parker Fowler (1859-1911). It was demolished in 1922 and replaced by today’s fourteen story and basement apartment building for which the architect was George Frederick Pelham (1866- 1937). Our early neighborhood home builder, Foster, was born in Taunton, England, October 11, 1841, and came to America in 1856. He invented the Foster glove fastening which he introduced to New York City in 1876, and then went on to develop a large and successful business. Earlier, he was in the glove business in Chicago but was financially ruined there by the fire of 1871. Foster died from cancer at the age of 54 at his Riverside Drive home on December 3, 1895.”
A big h/t to Ginger for that history. Another h/t to neighbor Gary Dennis who flagged the building in our Fall newsletter here where you'll also see links to Gary's history blogs.
And now for the Throwback photo (taken according to Gary just before the mansion was demolished in 1922), I give you the Foster mansion which sat squarely in the Block Association's catchment just 130 years ago. You can see it in the upper left corner of the 1891 Bromley map below.
The Foster Mansion sat on the northeast corner of Riverside Drive and W. 102nd Street prior to the construction of what is now 300 Riverside Drive.
Thanks to an old Block Association newsletter, I can tell you something more about this beauty in a post that is a mash-up of "One from the Vault" and "Throwback Thursday."
Ginger Lief, a valued neighborhood archive-lover and historian presented information about the home here in our 2002 newsletter:
[For some forty years], a fine residence stood on the northeast corner of Riverside Drive and W. 102nd Street. It was built from 1887 to 1888 for William F. Foster who lived there with his wife, Bertha. The architect of the brick mansion was Halstead Parker Fowler (1859-1911). It was demolished in 1922 and replaced by today’s fourteen story and basement apartment building for which the architect was George Frederick Pelham (1866- 1937). Our early neighborhood home builder, Foster, was born in Taunton, England, October 11, 1841, and came to America in 1856. He invented the Foster glove fastening which he introduced to New York City in 1876, and then went on to develop a large and successful business. Earlier, he was in the glove business in Chicago but was financially ruined there by the fire of 1871. Foster died from cancer at the age of 54 at his Riverside Drive home on December 3, 1895.”
A big h/t to Ginger for that history. Another h/t to neighbor Gary Dennis who flagged the building in our Fall newsletter here where you'll also see links to Gary's history blogs.
And now for the Throwback photo (taken according to Gary just before the mansion was demolished in 1922), I give you the Foster mansion which sat squarely in the Block Association's catchment just 130 years ago. You can see it in the upper left corner of the 1891 Bromley map below.
The Foster Mansion sat at the northeast corner of Riverside Drive and West 102nd Street from 1887-1922. It was demolished shortly after the photo above was shot and replaced by 300 Riverside Drive.
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