280 Broadway Between 9th and 10th streets
Architect: John Snook
Date Constructed: 1862

This remarkable five–story structure was built in 1862 as the second home of the A.T. Stewart Dry Goods store. In 1896, it was purchased by Wanamaker’s, a Philadelphia–based chain of stores, and soon became famous as “Wanamaker’s Department Store,” one of the largest stores in the city for many years.

It was the first building in the city to use prefabricated cast–iron components on the façade, a practice that became so commonplace over the next twenty–five years that an entire section of SoHo is now known as the “Cast–Iron Historic District.” Buildings in this style were constructed out of prefabricated cast–iron façade pieces, often shaped like Italian arches and painted to resemble stone, which were bolted onto the iron framework of the building.