The little frame duplex at 104 Clarence Street, near the London Soap Factory monument, doesn’t look like it once housed royalty. But in the 1860s, London folklore states this humble home was known locally as “the Castle.”
Author Archives: Alice Gibb
The Antiquities Shoppe SoHo Landmark Threatened With Demolition
SoHo’s distinctive bright red frame building, longtime home to The Antiquties Shoppe, is threatened with demolition. The store, on the northwest corner of Wellington and Hill Streets (129 Wellington), has been a SoHo landmark for over 130 years. Antique dealers Bennett Grossman and Dan McLachlan rented the shop in 1978, painting the building its eye-catching …
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John Law: Bell Maker and Inventor
For $132,900, someone with a passion for history can purchase one of the treasures of SoHo’s past. That treasure is the aluminum-sided cottage at 121 Clarence Street, the long-time home of John Law. Law, a pioneer plumber, gas fitter, brass and bell founder and inventor, operated one of SoHo’s more interesting businesses. His final foundry …
Young Fisherman Survives Fall from SoHo’s L&PS Bridge
On a summer’s day in 1919, Tommy Wilson of 231 Horton Street miraculously survived one very great adventure. That adventure was falling 50 feet off the London & Port Stanley (L&PS) railway bridge at Philip Street, and into the waters of the Thames below. What was miraculous is that Tommy missed several huge stones that …
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Waterloo South Primary School, An Architectural Gem
This handsome red brick building at 186 Waterloo Street, may be London’s earliest surviving school. The Waterloo South Primary School (the cottage-like structure to the left) was erected in 1864. The land on which it stands was granted by the Crown to Charles Brock on December 4,1842.