Ladies' Mile
NY
RetailDesignations
New York City Landmark in May, 1989
Description Show more
The Ladies' Mile Historic District was a prime shopping district in Manhattan, New York City at the end of the 19th century, serving the well-to-do "carriage trade" of the city. Before becoming a shopping district, this area was residential and included rows of identical brownstone townhouses. Between the Civil War and World War I, the district was the location of some of New York's most famous department stores and upscale retailers, including B. Altman, Best & Co., Arnold Constable, Bergdorf Goodman, Gorham Silver, W. & J. Sloane, Lord & Taylor, and Tiffany & Co. The area also boasted upscale restaurants, booksellers and publishers, and offices and showrooms for piano manufacturers, such as in the Sohmer Piano Building.
1860 The area first came to prominence in 1860, when the Prince of Wales stayed at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, located on 23rd Street, signalling to New York's high society that the neighborhood was acceptable to royalty. Arnold Constable & Co. opened its cast-iron store in 1868.
1878 The construction of the elevated train known as the El on Sixth Avenue in 1878 made the Ladies' Mile more accessible to lower class consumers. Extravagant shoppers would continue to arrive in carriages.
1980 By the end of World War I, most of the buildings had been converted into warehouses, and lofts for manufacturers, as well as some residences. The majority of the buildings were not torn down, however, and by 1980 they had started to be renovated and re-converted into large retail stores at and above street level.
The Ladies' Mile Historic District was a prime shopping district in Manhattan, New York City at the end of the 19th century, serving the well-to-do "carriage trade" of the city. Before becoming a shopping district, this area was residential and included rows of identical brownstone townhouses. Between the Civil War and World War I, the district was the location of some of New York's most famous department stores and upscale retailers, including B. Altman, Best & Co., Arnold Constable, Bergdorf Goodman, Gorham Silver, W. & J. Sloane, Lord & Taylor, and Tiffany & Co. The area also boasted upscale restaurants, booksellers and publishers, and offices and showrooms for piano manufacturers, such as in the Sohmer Piano Building.
1860 The area first came to prominence in 1860, when the Prince of Wales stayed at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, located on 23rd Street, signalling to New York's high society that the neighborhood was acceptable to royalty. Arnold Constable & Co. opened its cast-iron store in 1868.
1878 The construction of the elevated train known as the El on Sixth Avenue in 1878 made the Ladies' Mile more accessible to lower class consumers. Extravagant shoppers would continue to arrive in carriages.
1980 By the end of World War I, most of the buildings had been converted into warehouses, and lofts for manufacturers, as well as some residences. The majority of the buildings were not torn down, however, and by 1980 they had started to be renovated and re-converted into large retail stores at and above street level.
Map View
Ladies' Mile Historic District
5th Ave, New York, NY, US
440 buildings on 28 blocks, from 15th Street to 24th Street, and from Park Avenue South to west of the Avenue of the Americas
Nearby
| Theodore Roosevelt's Birthplace | 615 feet |
| ABC Carpet | 839 feet |
| Flatiron Building | 975 feet |
| MacIntyre Building | 0.2 miles |
| Memories of Twenty Third Street (23rd St Subway Mural) | 0.2 miles |
| William H. Seward | 0.3 miles |
| 200 Fifth Avenue | 0.3 miles |
| Roscoe Conkling | 0.3 miles |
| Shake Shack | 0.3 miles |
