A Short History of Maiden Lane

The origins of the name “Maiden Lane” are obscured by history. Many theories survive, the most common of which has this street, with its distinctive bend, getting its name from the creek it once followed. Young ladies from the early Dutch Colony would gather on the banks of the stream to wash the families’ clothing.

How the jewelry trade became centered on this street is almost as obscure. Connecting Broadway with the docks at the East River, importing merchants established themselves along this street. It was convenient to bring goods from the ship just a few blocks away to their establishments.

Most likely, merchants who sold imported goods began to sell silver items, which, by the early nineteenth century, included gold jewelry. Watches naturally followed, as most watches at that time were cased in gold or silver. By the mid nineteenth century, the jewelry trade was well represented on Maiden Lane.

An 1850 list of jewelry-oriented merchants on “The Lane” is informative:

            32 importers of watches and jewelry
            1 jobber
            13 manufacturing jewelers
            2 watchmakers
            1 manufacturer of watch crystals
            2 dealers in watchmakers’ tools
            1 watchcase maker
            2 gold pen manufacturers
            1 gold pencil maker
            1 clock dealer
            1 silversmith⁹

As the number of these merchants increased, nearby streets soon became part of what would become known as the “jewelry district.” These included Nassau, John, Cortlandt, and Fulton, and spilled over onto Broadway.

The Civil War brought boom and bust to the jewelry district. Money was in short supply.

Boom times erupted in the jewelry district after the war, with the American watch industry largely responsible. Virtually all of the wholesale jewelry firms on Maiden Lane and surrounding streets got in on the watch bandwagon. As most of these firms sold to retail stores nationwide, the watch factories maintained offices in the jewelry district to facilitate orders to these wholesale firms.

A hungry American market fueled this demand for high quality watches at prices many could afford. The boom did have several brief financial interruptions called “panics,” or in today’s jargon “adjustments,” the panics of 1873 and 1893 being the most notable.

The jewelry district was a very busy place in the 1880s, with competition keen not only for business but also for prime location. Crossman, like many firms in the district, changed addresses more than once. An entire wholesale business with national sales could be located in just two or three rooms. When more suitable accommodations became available, such as larger ones or something closer to street level, the move was made.

Buildings on “The Lane” during this decade averaged about five stories. When Mr. Crossman occupied number 23, over 300 firms were squeezed into the two blocks closest to Broadway.¹⁰

Crossman’s leaving number 23 for number 19 next door was not his choice. His old building at 23 was being demolished; the one erected in its place was the first eight story building on Maiden Lane!

This towering structure was known as the Hays building, after its owner, Alexander Hays.¹¹ The trend in building “up” was just beginning. Subsequent buildings kept growing taller, and today, Maiden Lane looks much like the rest of Manhattan. Very few nineteenth century buildings on Maiden Lane have survived into the twenty-first century. The Hays building at number 23, the very one that displaced the Chas. S. Crossman and Co. in 1892, is one of the fortunate ones. The interior of this historic structure has recently been renovated into apartments.¹²

The Roaring Twenties ushered in the age of investing, which would see the expansion of the financial district (Wall Street is just a few blocks away) into the jewelry territory. By the mid twentieth century, the jewelry business had become decentralized, both in New York City and nationwide. Most of the old jewelry firms on Maiden Lane were no more, with the few remaining in the city seeming to congregate in the 47th Street area.

The culture of Maiden Lane and the jewelry district had a significant impact on the American watch trade. Fortunately, there is much existing material from this fascinating time period in American horological history. More research is needed, and hopefully there are some who wish to bring to light the individuals and events that played such an important role in the American watch industry.

 I would be very interested in receiving any information on other examples of watches with Crossman’s name. Also, any facts or stories about Maiden Lane from the 1870s into the early twentieth century would be most welcome. I can be contacted by writing: Stacey Baker, P.O. Box 35, Middlebrook, VA 24459 or by email: veritas23@yahoo.com

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dean Sarnelle, who has the distinction of discovering the Crossman watch in Switzerland; John H. Wilterding, Jr., who provided me with helpful historical information and advice for this article; and the NAWCC Library staff. Also, thanks go to Donald L. Dawes, who has recently published The Complete History of Watch and Clock Making in America by Charles S. Crossman. This version is complete, with chapters on clock companies, case manufacturers, chronometer makers, copies of ads by the Crossman company, and letters to Mr. Crossman from some of the individuals involved in the early history of American watchmaking.

Notes

1 Cooksey Shugart, Tom Engle, and Richard E. Gilbert,  Complete Price Guide to Watches No. 19 (Cleveland, TN: Cooksey Shugart Publications): p. 337.

2 Dr. William Barclay Stephens, “Charles S. Crossman 1856-1930,” NAWCC Bulletin, No. 49 (June 1953): p. 420.

3 Ibid.

4 “A Complete History of Watch and Clock Making in America, by Charles S. Crossman.” Originally published in the Jewelers’ Circular and Horological Review, 1886-1891. Edited by Donald L. Dawes. March 2002. Appendix VII.

5 Stephens, “Charles S. Crossman.”

6 Dawes, “Complete History.”

7 Two other model eight Rockford movements have been observed on Internet auctions with a private name on the dial and “Our Own” on the movement. Neither were Crossman.

8 Dawes, “Complete History,” p. 84-90.

9 Albert Ulmann, Maiden Lane, The Story Of A Single Street (New York: The Maiden Lane Historical Society, 1931): p. 74-75.

10 William Muir and Bernard Kraus, Marion A History of The United States Watch Company (Columbia, PA: The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc., 1985): p. 121.

11 Ulmann, Pages 100-101.

12 Regal Investments, 475 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. Web site for the Hays Building: www.concentric. net/~Zobal/Maidenpage.html

About the Author

Stacy Baker has been a member of the NAWCC since 1989. He is fortunate to be employed full time in the watch and clock restoration field in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He has always been interested in historical objects, with American watches produced in the nineteenth century being of special interest.