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256 Mott Street
256-258 Mott Street
256-258 Mott Street

[256-258 Mott Street.]

Originally the 14th Ward Industrial School and Astor Memorial Building.

IMAGE DATE1977
FromMuseum of the City of New York logoMuseum of the City of New York

14th Ward Industrial School, ca. 1977.

The 14th Ward Industrial School was constructed in 1888 to honor the memory and philanthropic work of Mrs. Charlotte Astor by her husband, John Jacob Astor. Long supporters of the Children’s Aid Society, this new school was to teach the impoverished children of this Italian immigrant enclave skills they would need to make their way as urban dwellers and workers.

J.J. Astor commissioned Calvert Vaux to design the school. While the red brick, terra cotta, and buttresses denote a Victorian Gothic structure, Vaux added a stepped Dutch gable to top his creation.

Today the former school is cooperative apartments.

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