Uncover the favorite NYC haunts of beloved American writer and journalist Joan Didion, author of The Year of Magical Thinking, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, and more best-sellers!
Wedged between Greenwich Avenue and Avenue of the Americas, Patchin Place is a small, gated community in historic Greenwich Village that could very easily be missed by someone walking along 10th Street. The small stretch of brick houses, built around 1850 for Basque waiters working at the Brevoort Hotel, was once famous for housing writers like Theodore Dreiser and E. E. Cummings. Now a designated landmark, the cul-de-sac retains its nineteenth-century charm.
Famous writers aside, it’s also notable for having one of the last two remaining gaslight lamp posts in New York City, of which there were originally thousands. This one, in a style introduced in the 1860s, has a crossbar, which was used for propping up a ladder.
Another lampposts at the Entrance to Patchin Place
Electric lights were introduced to Broadway during the late nineteenth century, but modern lighting only became widespread in the twentieth century, after which these gas lamp posts were replaced by modern electric posts. Though the black cast-iron lantern is the only one of its kind to still survive today, it’s been powered by electricity since the 1920s.
Visit the historic post and more notable sites on an upcoming walking tour!
Washington Square and the Birth of Fifth Avenue
Visit extant 19th-century mansions, discover hidden Greenwich Village alleys, and look upon one of the oldest cemeteries in New York City as explore the roots of Fifth Ave and the early days of the Gilded Age!
