10 East 34th Street, ca. 1908.

Charles H. Ditson was a very wealthy music-seller and publisher, whose company had offices Cincinnati, Philadelphia and New York by the late 1860s. At the start of the 20th century, Ditson's son who ran the New York headquarters of music publications and instruments business decided to build a new 10-story structure. Designed by Townsend, Steinle & Haskell, the Beaux Arts building was completed in less than six months in 1907.

The building included large showroom spaces on the first and second floors for the Ditson musical empire, while the upper floors were meant to be rental income for the firm. Ditson remained in the building until 1946 when they went out of business in 1946 after decade of declining sales (supposedly due to the Depression and the influx of household radios).

The building remains today though its light-colored Indiana limestone facade has been darkened by grime and the passage of time.