The Union League Club, 5th Avenue and 39th Street, circa 1900.
The Union League Club opened March 5, 1881 and was the most exclusive men’s club in Manhattan, if not the whole USA. The club closed it's doors January 24, 1931. The grand clubhouse sat empty and silent for a year—until 1:00 in the morning on January 26, 1932. Somehow a fire started in the basement. Within an hour and a half “the entire structure was a raging furnace that seemingly defied the efforts of a small army of firemen to put it out,” reported The Times. What a sad ending to a really glorious building. The space now occupies a very high black office tower. I have really begun to take such an appreciation for architecture while seeing these works of art in New York City. I am always amazed when I see them in person, and it's too bad this one didn't last for us to enjoy in 2016. I can just imagine all the great parties and activities that must have went on in that building in the 1900's on Fifth Avenue!
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