A guide to the places Bob Dylan worked, played and created in New York's Greenwich Village.

Ice delivery on West 4th Street, just east of Sheridan Square, ca. 1950. The corner delicatessen (at left) is located at the corner of West 4th Street and Sheridan Square. Next to the right is the shop of Pedro Pujol, known for his modernist copper jewelry. At far right is Miss Douglass' Bake Shop.

1 Sheridan Square, 1933. From 1938 to 1948 Barney Josephson ran Café Society, New York's first racially integrated nightclub at 1 Sheridan Square. Josephson was a former shoe salesman whose extensive travels in Europe inspired him to create a jazz club that might look like the racially diverse cabarets he attended in Europe. On opening night Billie Holiday performed and she would later debut 'Strange Fruit' at the club. The venue only lasted for a decade. Josephson had leftist leanings and in 1947 his brother refused to refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. As a result the club was lambasted by writer and critics, the patrons stopped coming, and the Sheridan Square (and the second uptown location) were forced to close.

Since its very beginnings, Greenwich Village has been a breeding ground for artistic free expression. Nowhere is this more evident than its historic theaters.

The small wedge-shaped building at 1 Sheridan Square was built in 1834 for Samuel Whittemore (first owner of the Julius’ Bar building) and was originally three stories with a hipped roof. In 1927-28, it was raised one story, terminated with a stepped parapet, and stuccoed. During this remodeling the basement was joined with that of the adjoining 1902-03 factory building next door, which was converted into apartments. The basement was first the location of the Four Trees speakeasy/restaurant c. 1927-35. Trenton shoe salesman Barney Josephson opened Café Society in the basement space in 1938. Many people, including Josephson, have claimed that it was New York City’s first racially integrated club, but at least one venue, Small’s Paradise in Harlem (opened in 1925), appears to have preceded it. Bookings were made by now-legendary jazz producer John Hammond. It opened with a relatively unknown young singer named Billie Holiday, who played here for nine months and debuted the anti-lynching song Strange Fruit. Billed as “the wrong place for the Right people,” Café Society featured many of the jazz giants of the day, as well as such singers as gospel (and briefly jazz) star Sister Rosetta Tharpe. After his brother was subpoenaed by the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1948 due to his leftist political connections, Josephson was attacked by newspaper columnists, and his business fell off greatly. He closed this club in 1950. The space was converted into the Off-Broadway theater One Sheridan Square in 1960. Charles Ludlam’s Ridiculous Theatrical Company, founded in 1967, moved here in 1978. This was one of New York’s most innovative and influential Off-Off-Broadway theater troupes. In 2003, the New York Times noted that “Playwright, actor, and director, iconoclast among iconoclasts, Charles Ludlam was revolutionizing downtown New York culture in the 1970s with his gender-bending and outrageous theatrical sendups long before terms like ‘gender-bending’ were common.” Ludlam was in a unique theatrical position in New York, as the writer of 29 full-length plays that were produced by his own company. Ludlam died of AIDS in 1987. The Ridiculous Theatrical Company was located here until 1995. Since 1998, the basement theater has housed the Axis Theatre Company.

Opened in 1938 by Barney Josephson, the Cafe Society was the first racially integrated nightclub in New York City. Though it was only open for a little over a decade (the building is still standing), its legacy has lived on long since its doors closed in 1949. Josephson had been a shoe salesman but quit to pursue his dream of owning a nightclub. He knew that Greenwich Village would be possibly the only place in Manhattan that would welcome the progressive club he hoped to establish. Cafe Society welcomed some of the biggest talents in jazz history during its time in operation, including Billie Holiday. It was here that she first performed "Strange Fruit", an explicit song of protest against lynching and racism.

Music is an integral part of the cultural legacy and impact of our neighborhoods! In March 2019 we explored the iconic music venues and punk meccas of the East Village through East Village Building Blocks. Today we’re venturing west into the Greenwich Village Historic District for another musical tour.