[468 West Broadway.]
1976
[468 West Broadway.]
468-472 West Broadway, ca. 1976.
W.B. Marvin, the owner of the Marvin Safe Company, hired architect Oscar S. Teale in 1855 to erect this six-story brick and iron factory after his firm's previous headquarters caught fire. At the time of construction, Marvin's company was a key player in the industry with products that ranged in size from small office models to large vaults.
When the building opened in 1856, Marvin leased the ground floor to the C. & C. Electric Motors Company. More than 250 employees, all male, worked in the factory at the height of its use. The building, now also residential, maintains a commercial bottom floor that is leased to Hugo Fine Arts Galerie.