James Brown House
Address:
Ear Inn, Inc.
326 Spring Street
Manhattan
Category: Seafarer Services
Current use: Gallery/event space
Historic use: Sailors' Tavern
Built: 1817
Structure: Wooden frame house with brick facade
Designation: NYC Landmark, State & National Register of Historic Places
Description: When built, the Federal-style house stood at the water's edge. The house retains many original details, however landfilling has placed it over a block away from the river. James Brown was an African-American Revolutionary War veteran who operated a tobacco shop on the ground floor and lived upstairs in the early 19th Century. A bar has operated here since 1835.
