In the spring of 1883, the solemnity of Lent didn’t stand a chance against the social event on the mind of all of New York’s elite society: Mrs. W. K. Vanderbilt’s fancy dress ball. The invitations had been hand-delivered by servants in livery, young socialites had been practicing quadrilles (dances performed with four couples in a rectangular formation) for weeks, and “amid the rush and excitement of business, men have found their minds haunted by uncontrollable thoughts as to whether they should appear as Robert Le Diable, Cardinal Richelieu, Otho the Barbarian, or the Count of Monte Cristo, while the ladies have been driven to the verge of distraction in the effort to settle the comparative advantages of ancient, medieval, and modern costumes” (New York Times). The best dressmakers and cobblers had spent months poring over old books making costumes — which were already being breathlessly described by the New York Times — as historically accurate as possible.

In the early 1880s, as stone cutters were completing work on the William K. Vanderbilt mansion, the home's well-loved architect Richard Morris Hunt discovered that the artisans had created his likeness as a tribute. The statue of Hunt as a stone-cutter was installed on the roof over the entrance to the house. That home was demolished in 1926 and it is unknown if the statue was saved.

No single building better symbolized the Gilded Age than the home of William K. Vanderbilt, completed in 1883. While the rich had been flaunting their wealth in costumes and jewels, Vanderbilt displayed his dollars in limestone. And then other society men and women followed suit.

As the city expanded and the relentless churning of commerce caused New York's population to explode, the city pushed northward. As the city itself moved northward, so did its elite. They settled along the undeveloped edge of the brand new Central Park, building enormous homes and mansions to celebrate their fabulous wealth. This walk takes you through a selection of the Fifth Avenue mansions that would have once dominated the Avenue.

William K. Vanderbilt Mansion ca. 1928 No single building better symbolized the Gilded Age than the home of William K. Vanderbilt, completed in 1883. While the rich had been flaunting their wealth in costumes and jewels, Vanderbilt displayed his dollars in limestone. And then other society men and women followed suit. When Vanderbilt's house went up, most of the city's elite lived in unassuming homes such as J.P. Morgan's. The Houses produced a streetscape so monotonous that it provoked "Edith Wharton's ire. She wrote of "little, low studded rectangular New York with its universal chocolate-colored coating of the most hideous stone ever quarried," and bemoaned the lack of "towers, porticoes, fountains or perspectives." Vanderbilt commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt to create something that no doubt met Wharton's desire for something different. With Vanderbilt's wife, Alva, directing the project, Hunt produced a French Renaissance-style house that came to be known as the "petit chateau." It quickly commanded not only local but also national attention. In 1885, the country's 75 top architects named it the third best building in the United States, after the United States Capitol and Trinity Church. Within a few months of moving in, Alva hosted an extravagant costume ball that doubled as housewarming and social vindication. Mrs. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, the doyenne of New York Society, had denied the Vanderbilt family invitations to her own affairs. This time, it was Alva who left Mrs. Astor off the list- but only after encouraging Astor's daughter to practice a dance for the party. In response, Astor paid her first house call to Mrs. Vanderbilt, which led to an invitation and social acceptance. Just seven months later, the Vanderbilt family would further solidify their place at the center of elite society with the opening of the Metropolitan Opera house, which William's father, William H. Vanderbilt, had helped to establish. The mansion went up for sale a few months after Vanderbilt's death in July 1920. It was demolished in 1926. The site has been occupied over the years by two successive office towers.

In 1892, 27% of the country's millionaires lived in New York, when the city only made up 2% of the country's population! Welcome to the society of the Gilded Age. This tour takes its inspiration from an exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York that explores the visual culture of New York's richest residents from the mid-1870s to the start of World War One. It stops at several places, such as the old headquarters of Tiffany \&Company that are connected to the dazzling objects in the show. It also introduces you to some of the people at the center of Gilded-age society, and illuminates how-over the course of three decades- the city transformed more rapidly than ever before. It was during this time that New York became a world capital on par with London and Paris. Before the 1870s the lives of the rich and the places they frequented had been more private and understated. By the 1890s they were public and over the top: Simple brownstones gave way to French chateaux, cluttered dry good stores became palatial department stores; and grand hotels and restaurants became premiere places to entertain, outside the home. Even if shoes are more comfortable now than they were in the Gilded Age, you may find it tiring to walk this tour from beginning to end. So feel free to split it up!

The Gilded Age describes the era following the Civil War and preceding the Progressive Era. From around 1870-1900 the United States industrialized rapidly. Factories sprung up throughout the towns and cities in the Northeast and Midwest. New railroad networks and telegraph lines connected these industries and cities with the financial centers of the nation, specifically New York City. The Gilded Age is a complicated period. It saw the rise of monopolies and the creation of vast wealth. However, this wealth was limited to only a few families. Most Americans, including the millions of immigrants arriving annually, remained incredibly poor. The inequality of the Gilded Age prompted Progressive Reformers to enact laws which helped those poorer Americans. New York City represented well this "tale of two cities." In 1892, 27% of the country's millionaires lived in New York, when the city only made up 2% of the country's population! Yet the vast majority of poor immigrants arriving to the country entered through New York Harbor. While many Progressive reforms got their start in the Big Apple, the city was also the center of Gilded Age opulence. NYS Social Studies Scope and Sequence Standards: 8.2 & 11.5 For Teachers: The Gilded Age Lesson Plan