1. "The Borden House-Classic Greek Revival"
Posted by Susan on Dec-10th-02 at 2:56 AM

  Much has been written about the Borden's home at 92 Second Street over the years, that it was cramped, it was flimsily built, etc.  It also played a big part in the murders due to its layout.  But, did you know that the Borden home is actually a classic example of an architectural style called Greek Revival that was popular in the U.S. from around 1815 to 1860?  The Borden home was built in the mid 1840s at the height of Greek Revival popularity.

  Greek Revival architecture took hold in America around 1815.  Thomas Jefferson had proposed that Roman Classic as a suitable architecture for his vision of America, but, Americans decided that the Roman influences were too closely associated with England.  America's taste for all things British had waned due to the War of 1812, America against England.  Also, archeological findings of the time indicated that the Grecians had spawned Roman culture.  America also had its sympathies with Greece's own fight for independence against the Turks (1812-1830) which whetted her appetite for all things Greek.

  Greek Revival architecture began with public buildings in Phildelphia and quickly spread to private homes via carpenter's guides and pattern books.  The Industrial Revolution opened up a wealth of possibilities for the emerging middle class.  Wood was plentiful and cheap.  The cheap, light balloon construction invented in the 1830s in Chicago, in which pieces of lumber were nailed together and covered with boarding to cover an outlined frame, speeded up the building process-as did the invention of machine-made nails.  With its classic clapboard exterior and bold simple lines, Greek Revival architecture became the most predominant housing style in the U.S.  During the 1830s it became known as the National Style.



  Identifying Features of the Greek Revival

*Gabled or hipped roof of a low pitch
*Entry of full-width porch supported by columns
*Cornice line emphasized with a wide band of trim
*Narrow line of transom and sidelights around entry door
*6 over 6, double hung windows

Grander versions of this style feature facades that have massive full-height columns that actually resemble Greek temples.  More often, the classical columns support a small entry porch or are reduced to flattened Pilasters applied to the facade for a decorative effect.  Which is what the Borden's house has.

  In order to replicate the look of marble, Greek Revival homes were almost always painted white.  The 6 over 6 windows were painted black so that they disappeared simulating the blank openings of a temple.  Shutters, when used, were painted black or dark green.  Though more recent archeological evidence has revealed that the Greek temples were painted in polychromal (more than one color) schemes.  So, the Borden house may have been painted white when it was brand new with dark green shutters.  Here are some of the other color combinations that were used on Greek Revival homes, though none as popular as the white with green shutters.

House Body        Trim          Shutters and Door

Buff            Gray-blue          Med. Blue
Green-gray      Green-black
Blue-gray       Buff
Pale Gray       White
Gray Stain      Black
Pale Yellow     Dark Bottle Green  Black

  Andrew Jackson Downing, one of America's most influential architects wrote in 1842 "There is one colour(sic)....frequently employed by housepainters, which we feel bound to protest against most heartily, as entirely unsuitable, and in bad taste.  This is WHITE, which is so universally applied to our wooden houses of every size and description....(and) unpleasant to an eye attuned to harmony of coloring."  It was after this that we began to see the color combinations for which most Victorian homes are associated with.

  Apparently Lizzie's color choices for the Borden home when painted in the spring of 1892 were already dated by then!  The Drab color scheme was popular during the Gothic Revival period 1850 to 1870.  The scheme was the body of the house painted Drab or Fawn, the trim in a darker shade of Drab and the front door was to be done in Oak, which I am not sure if it was a paint color or if the front door was painted to resemble the wood-grain of Oak wood.


From what I can see, the windows in the Borden house are all 4 over 4, except the attic and basement windows which are 6 over 6, as are the windows on the barn.  Perhaps Andrew put in new windows when he moved into the house, I don't think that they are the originals from when built.


Heres a good example of the sidelights around the Borden's front door, but, there is no transom (window over top of door).  The only transom in the house is over the side kitchen door.


A good example of the Pilasters on the Borden house.  Pilaster:  A slightly projecting upright column that ornaments or helps to support a wall.

I actually like #92, I don't think they were living
like po folks at all, not fancy, but not squalor.
Thanks for all the info Susan, it looks like you might
have enjoyed your work!

Susan, thank you for that wonderfully informative post! 

Oh, you're both welcome!  Yes, I did enjoy writing about it, I have studied architecture in the past, Victorian architecture being my favorite!

I'm sorry, but, I forgot to post my sources, it was late when I finished posting.

The pictures of the Borden house are from Stefani's wonderful site, here is a link, there are many pictures of the house, inside and out!

http://www.lizzieandrewborden.com/92SecondSt1892.htm

The drawing of the Greek Revival house came from this site:

http://www.salemweb.com/guide/arch/greek.htm

Some of the sites I visited for exact dates and such"

http://www.oldhouseweb.net/stories/Detailed/10456.shtml

http://www.restorationonline.com/features/ArchPeriods/GreekRevivalDoc.asp

http://www.realtor.com/Basics/AllAbout/TypesStyles/Articles/Greek.asp?poe=realtor

As well as the wonderful book:  Daughters Of Painted Ladies-America's Resplendent Victorian's by Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen.

Would love to do something similar for Maplecroft, but, I don't have many pics of it to reference to. 

That Daughters of the Painted Ladies is a great book, one of
my favorites. I always loved architecture too, and interior
design. Thanks for posting the links!

That was a Wonderful post and really informative!
I love these extra bytes of knowledge people bring here from their own interests and experiences!
I was obvious you were into the subject.  Thanks for the sources!

Are the Painted Ladies the townhomes in San Francisco?
I think I have looked at that book.
I am more interested in decorating than actual archetechural style but I know what I like, and San Francisco is the most beautiful city in this country.

In the original book, the Painted Ladies were the homes in San Francisco.  This volume deals with Victorian homes across the U.S.  If you get this book and go to page 128 you can see a house I pass by every day on my way to work.  Its in Banker's Hill, which I guess is San Diego's version of Fall River's "The Hill".  This is the area with all the grand Victorian homes of the wealthy, I want one so bad I can taste it!  Can anyone lone me a couple million dollars? 

Thanks.  I just wanted to share what I knew about that particular style of home, in its day, the Borden home was quite stylish, though by 1892 was kind of like last year's model.

I just looked at all the Maplecroft pictures at the Museum/Library and wondered that there were not enough for you to document the style?  What would you need?

http://www.annestuartonline.com/APLizzie.htm
At this Link is The Borden Story anniversary
AP National Wire, 1992. This version ran on page 1 of The Los Angeles Times on Sunday, April 5, 1992

- Transported here is the second story which Might have appeared in the L.A. Times, along with the other...


Boxy Lizzie Home and Mansion Still Stand
By Anne Stuart
April 1992

FALL RIVER, Mass. -- Both of Lizzie Borden's homes still stand in this southeastern Massachusetts city, but the neighborhoods around them little resemble the Fall River of 1892.

The murder scene was the boxy, narrow home at 92 Second Street, where Andrew and Abby Borden lived with his two daughters, Lizzie and Emma, and a maid, Bridget Sullivan.

In 1892, Second Street was a plain, pleasant, middle-class residential neighborhood. Today, Second Street is part of downtown Fall River. The former Borden homestead is privately owned by a printing company next door. The owners don't give tours.

Several small businesses and a modern brick apartment complex now fill the spaces once occupied by the Bordens' next-door neighbors. Across the street are the Fall River bus station and the Pearl Garden Chinese restaurant.

Down the street is a high-rise parking garage and, just around the bend, a Victorian-style restaurant named, of course, "Lizzie's."

It's a mile or so to 306 French Street, the 14-room home Lizzie and Emma bought with their inheritance after Lizzie was acquitted of murdering their father and stepmother. The house, a rambling Victorian, sits high on Heritage Hill, the snazziest neighborhood of its day and still filled with mansions built by wealthy textile mill owners.

Lizzie had the house's name, "Maplecroft," chiseled into the front steps, an ostentatious Victorian breach of etiquette that makes the home easier to spot from the street today.

Unlike Lizzie's early neighborhood, French Street retains its turn-of-the-century architecture, although many houses have been split into apartments or small businesses.

Maplecroft is an exception to the trend. The home is owned by an insurance adjuster, who maintains his business on the first floor and lives upstairs.

Again, the owners turn down requests for tours.

Fall River, about 50 miles south of Boston, was founded in 1659 by Pilgrims who migrated from Plymouth, about 30 miles away. It derives its name from the Quequechan River -- quequechan is the Pocasset Indian word for "falling water" -- which cuts through the city and spills into Mt. Hope Bay.

During the 19th Century, the waterway powered the mills that made Fall River the world's textile capital.

The city was at the height of its prosperity during Lizzie Borden's lifetime, when the mills attracted workers from all over the world, pushing the city's population to 120,000 people. At one point, 30,000 men, women and children worked in 101 mills for as little as 25 cents a day.

The decline began before the Great Depression. In 1928, the year after Lizzie Borden died, an enormous fire devastated much of the mill district.

Later, most of the mills were shut down, and the city's population gradually dwindled to its current 92,000.

For decades, Fall River residents tried to disown the ghosts of the city's most famous family. "If you considered yourself in any way a good, decent, respectable person, you didn't discuss it," said Michael Martins, curator of the Fall River Historical Society.

But Fall River appears to have made peace with the Bordens, in much the same way that another famous Massachusetts city, Salem, has acknowledged -- and begun to trade on -- an embarrassing chapter in its history, the witchcraft trials of 1692.

There is an "ASK SUELLA"  section of Curious Schapbooks related to the Bordens!
Strange & Amusing...

http://www.curiouschapbooks.com/Ask_Suella/body_ask_suella.html

Thanks for the interesting link, Kat!  Suella looks like the picture of Lizzie's turn-coat friend, Alice!  So, I guess I do have enough pics, now just need to compile all the info I have and can find on a home like Maplecroft. 

My post #9 calls Maplecroft a "Victorian"...and the "Schapbooks" speaker *Suella* calls it a *Queen Ann* style.
I hope you can figure this out...

Superb post Susan.

92 Second St was built in 1845 by Southard Miller.  Miller lived across the street in the same duplex with Dr. Bowen.  Miller also worked on the interior of city hall and Andrew worked for him as a carpenter around that time.

Didn't AR Brown mention that Andy first worked as a carpenter?
And that he recognized the value of the granite block foundation? The house is still standind 16 decades later!!! The others around it are gone.

I am not a student of architecture, but once read a reference that "baloon frame" houses became popular after the Civil War. When an expanding population needed quickly built homes. The better method is still post and beam construction. If you find a 200 year old house or barn this is what they used. Nails rust and lose strength.

The name "baloon" may recall Civil War observation posts.

Thanks, Harry and thanks for the pic.  So, this was Andrew and Abby's friend that was "all the neighbors we need" or however Abby had said it.

Rays, I was trying to find some pictures and info on 2 houses that I know still stand in my hometown in New Jersey; one was a home built in the 1830s if I remember correctly that they picked up and moved to new location due to the land being bought up to put in a nursing home.  The other is Grover Cleveland's birthplace, no pics came up on the site for it, I was in this as a little girl and I don't think it was post and beam construction.  They also have a crumbly, moldy piece of his wedding cake that still stands, yuck!   But, I think if a house is put together right, even balloon construction, I think it can withstand the tests of time.

Susan, this is a very interesting post. Greek Revival houses stand in large numbers throughout New England, in cities, small towns, and rural areas alike. They are easily recognizable and many are still painted white with green or black pilasters and shutters. Those without shutters often have green or black trim around the windows and doors. Greek Revival houses must be both sturdily built and comfortable to live in as so many remain in use today.

I think it was more like "He is all the neighbors we have got", referring to Dr. Bowen, but surely encompassing that whole family.  Mrs. Dr. Bowen was Southard Miller's daughter, and she, plus Mrs. Miller were reportedly good friends with Abby, according to them.

That statement can be found in Knowlton Papers, pg. 227.
Remember it is supposedly said by Abby, overheard by Lizzie, related to Alice who relates it to Mr. Moody.


.

Thank you, Doug.  Yes, I remember even in my hometown in New Jersey there were quite a few of them around that had been built in the early 1800s.  I like that there is historical reference for them to be painted white, I don't like the big grand Victorian homes that are whitewashed though.

Thanks for that, Kat.  I knew I wasn't recalling Abby's words exactly, or how Lizzie would have it. 

http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/pwwmh/ma53.htm

Its hard to tell from this picture (the only one I could find) but this house looks just like 92 Second St (except the front door is on the wrong side) I live right around the corner from it, and always think of the Bordens when I pass by. (Not Christian Science though)

A question popped up for me when I read your interesting post Susan, a question about the architecture of the Borden house on Second St.  The house looks to me like a one family home just by glance at the front, yet it was built as a two family unit. Would it be fair to say then (since someone else on this link has also said this type house was built all over the area), that it was commonly also built either as a one family or two family dwelling?  Or, was it unusual for this type design to be built as a two family building because Andrew had it converted.

The other thing I was pondering was that just by glance, not knowing types of architecture well, I always thought the Ferry St. house was very similar to the 92 Second St. house and I supposed that is what appealed to Andrew when he switched homes, i.e., it would appeal so he wouldn't have to change too much in what he was used to. I wonder if the Ferry St. house had an architectural name or if it was just a boxy house.

Also interesting is the name of the architect who didn't like white for houses, "Andrew Jackson" Whatever it was.

Carol, from the one picture that I've seen of the Ferry Street house, it is indeed another Greek Revival home.  I can't find it to post it, maybe someone who has it can?  It looks alot like the Second Street house, just flip-flopped, the entrance is on the left of the front of the house instead of the right.  It may indeed been a selling point for Andrew that it so resembled his old family homestead, he knew what he was getting.

I would say that this particular architectural style was usually built as a one family dwelling.  But, the Second Street property, due to its location, close to downtown and the mills, it may have been more advantageous to have it as a two family rental.  It seems that there were quite a few 2 family homes made in single family dwellings around Fall River, why that is, I really can't say.  There was the Ferry Street house, Second Street, Abby's old home.  Maybe it was a way of keeping a big family together under the same roof, but, not necessarily in the same home, each would have their seperate quarters. 

I seem to have noticed that in the language of the day, the different types of abodes were referred to as either tenements, duplexes, or mansions.

Believe it or not, in the newspapers, Andrew Borden's residence, once it was single-family, was called a "mansion".

Dr. Bowen's part of a house was called a duplex.  I surmise that maybe a tenement was more of the catagorey of apartment house or boarding house.

I thought these terms might designate & describe, in that culture, the difference between a single home and a multi-family one (or multi-person, non-related).

Supposedly it was a common family tradition, in Fall River for a son of the family & his new bride to move in with his parents until later when an own house was built...maybe by the time children were due?

Sometimes the arrangement would be that the father or mother of the groom would build a whole new house for all their use, and all move in together.

I believe the BOWEN duplex had 2 entrances, but this is surmised from the photo and to how the dwelling was referred.


Andrew may have been attracted to the Second Street house because it was built by Southard Miller, in 1845, the man who employed Andrew as carpenter for two years previous to the house being built for Charles Trafton..  Andrew may have known Miller's reputation or he may have gotten a good deal.
(Rebello, 24)


"Southard Harrison Miller built the Borden home on Second Street in 1845. It was originally built as a two-family but remodeled by Andrew J. Borden. (Inquest Testimony: Lizzie Borden)  He had purchased the home on April 26, 1872. The original address was 66 Second Street. It was changed to 92 Second Street in 1875, and 230 Second Street in 1896, and 228, 230 and 234 Second Street about 1940.
The Borden home is a two-story, twelve-room Greek Revival with a third floor attic. A barn was also on the property."  (Rebello, 32)
--------

"The address for the Borden home on 12 Ferry Street was renumbered to 483 Ferry Street when the entire city was renumbered in 1896. The two-family home with an attic apartment was occupied by various families until 1959. This downtown section was torn down as part of the city's redevelopment program in the early 1960's. The Borden home would be on the site of Riverview Towers, a high rise building and parking lot.

Source: Registry of Deeds, Fall River, Massachusetts."
(Rebello, 28)




(Message last edited Dec-23rd-02  3:19 AM.)

Thank you, Kat!  From what I remember, tenements were apartment houses or buildings, but, it wasn't a particularly good term, it meant that they were lacking in certain comforts of a regular home.  I lived in a duplex when I first moved out to San Diego, it had seperate entrances, it looks like its a fairly standard feature. 

You're welcome.  It's an intersting subject you started...

What do you suppose might be that big flat-white section of wall on the side of the house that is nearest us?  No windows, etc.  Is that a photo flaw?  Why would there be nothing there?  Do you know?
[Edit here:  I have a closer version of this same picture, and it is a file too big to be accepted here...but it still has that blank wall--
BTW:  This is from Stefani's PORTER /Pearson offering on disc, for sale at Second Street Shop & LABVM/L]



(Message last edited Dec-24th-02  2:39 AM.)

I think its either a flaw in the photo or perhaps its something in that elevated yard to the left of the house that is blocking it.  It almost looks as though part of the photo is missing right there. 

Isn't the "blank wall" the location of the inside stairwell to the second floor? Look at the better known 92 Second St house; if the door was at the corner would there be any windows there?
Maybe that was a drawback on that house, aside from size and location?

This is the side of 92 Second Street where the stairwell is, there appears to be a window at the foot of the stairs that is now covered by the shop attached to the house.  Most older homes that I've visited seem to have at least one window in the stairwell to let in light.  The upstairs one I assume is on the side of the dress closet.  Photo from the LABVM&L site.

I thought for sure someone would say it was cheaper to build that Ferry St. house without those *extra* windows...

I scanned the photograph in the Fall River Tragedy book.
By enlarging and increasing the contrast, it is apparent that this is a blank wall. Evidence of this is the unbroken trim line below the roof that extends for the entire length of the house.

Thanks, William!  It still seems a mystery to me why one wall on the Ferry St. house would be blank like that.  Does anyone think that it may possibly have been a big sign painted on the side of the house for Andrew to advertise his business while he was living there?  It appears to be lighter than the other siding on the house.  Or, that there may have been an add-on that was taken off the side of the house there? 

There is a window at the top of the stairs in 92 Second Street.  You can see it in this fake photo of Lizzie climbing the stairs.

I still think that there is a possibility that the stairs were not part of the original house.  Just my speculation.

I tend to think the blank wall area on the side of the Ferry St. house has something to do with an interior feature(s) of the house, possibly a stairway and/or closet space. The window above the front door might serve to illuminate the stairs as would what appear to be "lights" or small windows around the front door. It would be interesting to see a floor plan of the Borden's Ferry St. house though I don't know whether such exists.

YEA!  Thanks William.
I wish MORE of that photo was better defined. 
I'd like to examine that front YAWD.
Well, it may be cheaper to not put windows in a stairwell.
If it was a better house in a better area I'd think maybe there was an elavator there.
Supposing it has something to do with being built as a 2-family home?
Thanks for all the attempts at an explanation you guys!!!!
Maybe I'll look at photo's in Victorian Vistas to find a similar house.

I looked at all the pictures of houses in Victorian Vistas, Vol II.
I found 3 suspicious houses that may be similiar to Ferry Street, in that they have these big blank places where you would expect windows.  (Pg.s 241, 467,664).  They are not the same in over-all design.
Supposing there was a building attached and it was torn down previous to our 1893 Porter picture?  (Probably a Globe photo?)
Maybe there was damage to the building in the past, like fire, and that was how it was repaired?
I don't think we know When that house was built?
And the earliest census in Rebello for Bordens at Ferry street is 1850.  (R. 28)

AS I remember it, the 92 Second St house had the stairwell in the middle, and rooms on either side. The small cloakroom?
We can see this from the floor plans. It does look larger than their old homestead.
A bigger house may be more in their present needs of 1870.

Remember the questioning as to once the front door of 92 Second Street was wide open, it would obstruct the stairs?  I think this was asked, officially, of Dr. Bowen.
He agreed.
So the stairs at #92 went up the south wall, and turned north(?).
The clothes press was at the head of the front first floor landing, on the south & west wall front.
That closet had at least one window, in the front (west), and corresponded, in area, to the front hall, minus the room the stairway took up.

One may believe those stairs were a later addition to the 1845 structure, and one may believe that the clothes press was a small useful room to the second floor occupants.

Personally, I think Ferry street house looks larger but it may be an illusion.  Also since there were, at times, possibly 10 people living at Ferry street, that may influence why I think it seems larger...

(Message last edited Dec-27th-02  1:02 AM.)

I don't know if they had to file building plans with the city before or after building. Or what the zoning requirements were. But common sense says "large staircase" for moving furniture, and a small narrow one as a fire escape. One old house (built around the same time?) had a similar 30" wide internal staircase to access second floor bedrooms. The indoor stairways are a necessity for cold climates.

ANY file building plans in those days?

You can spot the difference in contrast and detail between old photographs, or montage photos, and the real thing; in most cases.

So, if the earliest records for the Borden's at the Ferry street property was 1850 and it looks as though homes took about a year and a half to build during the 1800s.  So, we have the time span from 1816 to about 1848, about 32 years, and 1830 is when Greek Revival homes  were the National Style, they were all that and a bag of chips.

I was perusing some of my architecture books of the Victorian period and it seems that for a house of the Borden size, at Ferry or Second street, that they always had 2 staircases.  In fact, there is one floorplan in Bicknell's Victorian Buildings for a Italianate style home that has almost the exact floor plan of the Borden home and the rooms are set up on the first floor exactly as the Second Street house, spooky!  On the second floor, the dress closet is listed as a bedroom, the guestroom is just called a chamber, Lizzie's room is just a chamber, where Emma's room was and Mrs. Borden's dressing room is one room listed as the guestroom and where Andrew and Abby's bedroom is the servant's room.  Wish I had a scanner to show you all. 

Above, is the Panorama Map of Fall River.
Below is close up of Ferry Street..
Stef & I found this tonight.  A magnifying glass which she got for Christmas, was a big help.
SeeThe BIG white building in the lower right quadrant.
The street in front of that is Ferry Street.
It runs 6 blocks up the map to Washington, and stops, (middle)upper left quadrant
This map is of F.R., 1877.
http://www.lizzieandrewborden.com/ArchiveLthreads.htm
LABVM/L Archive

Cool!  I see where you're indicating, did you and Stef find what possibly is the Borden home there? 

I think Harry has a good idea of where it might have been.
Hello, Harry?
(He first introduced this cool map to us here.  Now I have one at home and Stef has a large one mounted on her wall.  That's where the magnifying glass came in)

--Edit here:  I was posting the map below as attachment, and re-reading this message because it appears at the top of my screen, as well as the new message.  I was looking at the words *magnifying glass* and just at this moment "Matlock" was told the same words "Magnifying Glass" by some woman on his show.  Am not watching it...but it is on in the background.  Had a fat nap tonight, hence I am here still, fooling around.

(Message last edited Dec-30th-02  5:41 AM.)

Harry zoomed into the map deeper, and up Ferry Street and found a section near Washington where there are several houses with those odd blank spots where you'd expect windows.
One of these may be our Borden homestead.
Stef wondered if that design was weather-related...
I wondered also, as that side we see is facing down toward the water...

X =Washinton St.
H =The 3 houses with *missing* features.

(Message last edited Dec-30th-02  5:33 AM.)

From a BIOGRAPHICAL survey of Bristol County.
(You don't suppose those millions of rabbit skins were housed at Ferry Street, do you?)

"The Marshall brothers, James, Robert and John, also joined partnership in the New England Fur Cutting Company in 1893, with headquarters on Ferry street, the business being set up under the direction of M. E. Ryan, at which time about twelve thousand rabbit skins were being made use of each week. The quarters on Chace street were first occupied in 1898. Many millions of rabbit skins were used throughout the year in producing fur for hat-making, the business being allied to that of the hat factory, though separate. The Bristol County Hat Works, a Rhode Island corporation in Tiverton, were connected with the fur cutting company."

Very cool.  One of them may be it.  What an odd feature to have though, it appears to be a windowless stairwell.  Maybe city building codes of the time when these were built? 

The girls retained the Ferry Street property after it came to them, until July, 1896.  (R. 28)
But I wonder if the residents could smell thousands of rabbit pelts in the summer?

After WW II when there was a great need for new houses, builders usually repeated the original design for the houses in the tract.
That may have changed by the 1970s ("no cookie cutter houses"), with new fashions etc.

Or architects learned to charge extra for repetitions?

Since no one wants to envision thousands of rotten-fleshed rabbit pelts on Ferry street, than I will ask about that odd feature about the homestead:  Building codes lead to no windows in a stairwell?  Wouldn't it be the opposite?  HAD to have a requisite # of windows in a stairwell, for light to discourage accidents, and a means of escape during a fire?  Especially if there is an off-site landlord and a two-family tenement?

Rabbit fur was essential to the felt-making process in 19th century hat shops. Hat bodies were made of felt. The fur had to be in good condition when it was processed into felt or the felt (and the hats) would be of poor quality. I don't think deteriorated fur or pelts could be successfully used to manufacture hats. The real problem with felt-making in that era was not odor but the use of mercury in the process.

Many houses have interior stairways that are not directly illuminated by windows, for example the back stairs at 92 Second St. Presumably there would be some source of indirect light, from a door or a window in an adjoining room or hallway, perhaps. Stairways now are lit by electric lights; in the 19th century before electricity it may have been assumed that a person using the stairs would carry a candle, lantern, or kerosene lamp.

WOW!
Thank you.  That was Most informative!
Where have you been all my life?

Now I wonder if those living on Ferry street were poisoned by mercury building up in their bodies from the environment, and what side effects that could have.
The article specifies that there was a merger in 1893, but not that the original company wasn't already situated there long before...

Found some further info on felt hat making, interesting, its the mercury poisoning that caused that statement to come about, "mad as a hatter."

Hat Making

Fur Felt Hats

Fur felt hats are produced most commonly from rabbit fur with some of the better quality hats being made from beaver, although beaver today is exceedingly rare. Hare fur today is also fairly common with a combination of rabbit and fur being more popular.

Beaver

The initial stage in the hat making process would be the plucking of the coarse guard hairs from the beaver pelt, which was then brushed, with a solution of nitrate of mercury.

This would raise the scales on the fur shafts so that they would become firmly locked together. This process became known as "carotting" and if carried out in a poorly ventilated room, the mercury fumes could damage the brain, hence the expression "mad as a hatter". The fibres would then be cut from the skin and placed on a bench in a workroom known as the "hurdle". Over the bench would be suspended a hatter's bow, very much like an oversized violin bow and the fibres responded to the vibrations of the bow which was controlled by the craftsmen, separating themselves and becoming evenly distributed until they had formed into a thick but loosely structured mat of material known as the "batt". Several batts would then be shaped into a cone and reduced in size by boiling and then rolled to create a firm dense felt. The hood would then be sent onto the hatter who would mould it to the required shape and then line and finish it.

Hats made from Beaver felt were to see a marked decline in the mid 1800s and gradually became replaced by the silk hat, followed by fur felt hats and wool felt hats.

Rabbit / Hare

Specific breeds of rabbit are preferred with the majority of fur being produced in Belgium. Only the under-fur of the animals is used, as only this fur is suitable for the matting process involved in felt making. The fur, which is removed from the rabbit, is bagged according to the grade of fur and undergoes various mixing refining processes before it is ready to be made into a hood. The fur is then blown, a process which enables the removal of any dirt and clotted fur. The actual process of hat making can now commence.

The initial stage is the production of a cone. This is produced by placing a certain quantity of fur onto the top of the forming chamber (an upright cylindrical compartment - within which is housed a copper cone approximately one metre in height). The cone which is perforated revolves slowly and an exhaust fan beneath it sucks the air and the loose fur in the chamber down onto the revolving cone, creating a matt of loosely interwoven fibres. The cone is then immersed in a vat of very hot water where the heat of the water shrinks the fibres thus starting the felting process. The fur, which has formed into a loose layer of felt, is then removed from the cone.

At this stage the felt hood is many times larger than the final finished hood. To achieve such a significant reduction in size, the layer of felt is put through the processes of folding, dipping in hot water and then finally it is put through rollers which will squeeze out any of the excess fluid thereby furthering the felting process.

Hood Blocking

Felt hoods are generally blocked on wooden blocks. The wood for these blocks tends to come from the American Poplar tree as it has no grain, which if present would show in the blocking process. A hat block is required for every size of hat and for every shape of hat and with the current price at around £200 per block, the creation of a new style of hat represents today a fairly heavy investment.

Flanging

Flanging is the term used to describe the forming or creation of the brim. The brim is first ironed flat. It is then cut to the required width, placed on a wooden flange of the necessary shape, ironed and finally dried and pressed.

Stiffening and Sanding

A stiffener such as shellac is normally always required for the brims and obviously the more stiffener applied the stiffer the brim. Stiffener is often avoided in the crowns of fur felt hoods, although is regularly used in wool felts.

Finally the hat is sanded many times, to create a smooth texture so characteristic of the fine fur felt hats.

Trimming

The final stage of the hat process is the trimming. This will include the insertion of a leather inner band or similar, the lining of the hat as well as the application of some outer band. The latter, although a relatively simple process can be the most significant in the terms of the final appearance of the finished hat, very much determining the character of the hat and consequently its potential wearer. The more flamboyant the trim, e.g. feather band or silk band, the more flamboyant and individualistic in style the wearer.

Wool Felt Hats

These are produced from sheep's wool and consequently are significantly coarser in touch in comparison to the soft fur felt. They have in recent years gained in popularity primarily due their competitive price advantage and because of this are particularly favoured as a fashion item. They do not wear as well as fur felts and unlike fur felts have a tendency of losing their shape and shrinking if exposed to rain. The hat making processes involved in producing a wool felt hat are very similar to those used for fur felts, although many of the additional finishing and sanding processes required to produce a fine fur felt are obviously not required.


From the site:  http://www.thehatsite.com/felt.html

Also found a site that lists the health problems caused by mercury poisoning:

http://www.thimerosal-autism-symptoms.com/html/mercury.html

Vaccines Containing Thimerosal

Influenza-- All

GREAT.  Just Great.

Well, let's see.  I've had a pneumonia shot...get a flu shot every year...haven't needed rabies (yet)...hmmmm...what was I saying?

Am happy I don't like hats. Potters too could be poisoned in their line of work too from the chemicals, perhaps the phrase "going potty" came from that instead of meaning the more mundane going to the restroom or the more eloquent on the throne.