Mount Vernon Hotel Museum ARCHITECT: Unknown DATE: 1799 STYLE: Federal The charm of this Federal style stone stable converted into a comfortable headquarters for the Colonial Dames is to be found in its superb masonry construction and its excellent proportions. The sharp profiles of the low pitched pedimented gable roofs cut a clean line that is both severe and pleasing to the eye. A smooth-faced stone belt-course separates the rock-faced masonry of the lower floor from that of the second story clearly defining the building’s perimeter.

Col. Smith House (also known as the Adams Mansion), 1924. This building was originally a carriage house on the estate of Colonel William S. Smith, aide-de-camp to Washington and husband of Abigail Adams, the daughter of President John Adams. The estate was known as "Smith's Folly." After his failure in business, about 1800, the buildings were brought by William T. Robinson and were said to have been completed by him. In 1826 the main house burned, and in 1830 the carriage house was bought by Jeremiah Towle, remaining in the possession of his family until 1906. It was later purchased by the Colonial Dames of America.

Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden, ca. 1939. Located on 61st Street between 1st and York Avenue, this plot was originally purchased by Colonel William S. Smith, a Revolutionary War veteran and politician. Smith found the property with his wife, Abigail Adams, the daughter of founding father and second U.S. President John Adams. The two bought the land with intentions to develop it into an estate called "Mount Vernon," named for George Washington's plantation in Virginia. The couple eventually sold the land, never beginning construction of their planned estate. Instead, William T. Robinson, who owned a house nearby, purchased the property to build a stone carriage house and stable. He continued to call the area "Mount Vernon." Unfortunately, Robinson's main estate was lost to a fire in the 1820s. In 1826, the former carriage house was converted into a hotel by Joseph Coleman Hart. Surrounded by rural lands, the stone house provided an easy getaway for Manhattanites looking to spend a day in the country. In an era with no public parks, the area provided New York City's elite with a place to roam free and participate in many activities, such as boating and hiking in proximity to the East River. Mount Vernon was more of a country club than a hotel, and many guests returned home to the city in the evenings by steamboat or stagecoach. The hotel closed in 1833, likely put out of business by nearby competitors. It was purchased by Jerimiah Towle and converted into a private residence for his family. As photographs indicate, by the early 20th century the Standard Light and Gas Company began building tanks in the vicinity of the property and eventually purchased the home in 1905. The building's ownership was eventually passed down to the Colonial Dames of America, a patriotic society, who converted the former hotel into their headquarters in 1924. Coinciding with the New York's World's Fair, the building was converted into the Abigail Adam Smith Museum, which was later renamed the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden to better reflect its history. The Colonial Dames of America still operate the Hotel Museum and Garden, which focuses on the history of New York City after the construction of the Erie Dam in 1925.

Col. Smith House (also known as the Adams Mansion), 1924. This Federal style structure was originally built as the carriage house for the large 23-acres estate of John Adams' daughter Abigail and her husband, William Stephens Smith. Despite grand plans and an idea to name the estate after George Washington's home, the Smiths were forced to sell the estate due to financial troubles. This building was completed in 1799 by the next owner, William T. Robinson, a well-to-do merchant. By the 1820s the building and its nearby structures and land were purchased and converted in the Mount Vernon Hotel, which was a day hotel catering to a rising middle class looking to escape the crowding and congestion of downtown. The hotel would only stay open for seven years. For the rest of the 19th and early 20th century it was a private residence. The building was sold to Standard Gas and Light Company in 1905. The Colonial Dames of New York purchased it in 1924 (the year this photo was taken) and turned it into a museum. It has continued in that capacity into the 21st century.

A walk of the best tourist spots New York City's Upper East Side has to offer.

They were built over the first half of the 20th century. They dotted (some might say dominated) the landscape from Alphabet City to Harlem, Greenpoint to Elmhurst to Coney Island. Most were more than 200 feet in diameter and more than 200 feet tall. The ones on Maspeth Avenue in Greenpoint were more than 400 feet tall. They most often came in pairs. Sometimes you could catch a glimpse of them in movies filmed in New York. The natural gas tanks of New York City were the large storage facilities for local utility companies, including the massive Brooklyn Union Gas Company, Consolidated Edison, and a number of smaller companies. In the very late 19th and early 20th century these utility companies began building facilities all over the city, some in areas already densely populated, others on land surrounded by potato fields. Generally speaking each tank or "holder" was constructed of riveted steel plates that inside looked like five face-down cups or levels. The levels telescoped up as natural gas was pumped in by engine-driven compressors. The bottom of the tank was a shallow pool of water, which, is some cases, was used to float a small rowboat for internal inspections. The holders provided constant pressure in residential gas lines during high demand. In 1992 the entire Brooklyn Union Gas system used 906 million cubic feet of gas on its busiest day. The few holders that remained functioning at that time (all in Brooklyn or Queens) were able to hold less than one percent of that total. They had outlived their usefulness. Most of the holders in more densely populated neighborhoods had been dismantled in the previous decades, but a few remained. They were decommissioned and then deconstructed piece by piece. The final two tanks, the twin, red-and-white checkered, 400-foot-tall ones, in Greenpoint along the Newtown Creek, had quite a different send off. On the morning of July 8, 2001, a Sunday, at 7:00 A.M., with the nearby Brooklyn-Queens Expressway closed down, the towers were imploded and in less than 10 seconds came crumbling down, with tens of thousands of New Yorkers watching.

Between 1954 and 1957, the Municipal Art Society surveyed historic buildings in all five boroughs to create a database of potential landmarks to preserve. Local residents and MAS staff compiled individual sheets devoted to about 200 buildings. Each sheet outlined the building’s date, location, and style and provided a description and a small photograph. This is the list of Manhattan buildings.

Abigail Adams Smith House, 1935.