The Bowery Boys Cast-Iron Architecture Tour along Ladies' Mile

The Bowery Boys Cast-Iron Architecture Tour along Ladies' Mile

Join us on a tour of Ladies’ Mile, 19th-century New York’s most famous shopping district, where splendid commercial palaces plied their wares to the city’s elite. Some of the greatest architects and artists of the time created lavish show rooms to entice and delight both shoppers and passers-by.

Your expert guide Emma will lead you around the neighborhood now known as Chelsea and the Flatiron District to see where wealthy women could shop without male companions. Residents of this neighborhood, such as Isabella Stewart Gardner, Edith Wharton, Samuel Morse, and members of the Roosevelt family, would have strolled the streets and shopped in the grand department stores, where every floor was filled with exquisite wares.

The buildings of the Ladies’ Mile district includes some of the most important examples of lavish cast-iron architecture in New York City. We'll discuss the incredible architecture that still exists today, and examine how these department stores changed New York.

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Union Square, 14th-17th Street (Broadway and Park), New York City, NY 10001

We start with an explanation of the development of the area around Union Square in the mid-19th century.

Duration: 15 minutes

Stop At: Fifth Avenue, 5th Ave, New York City, NY 10118-4810

We discuss cast-iron architecture and the development of shopping along Fifth Avenue

Duration: 15 minutes

Stop At: Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas), New York City, NY

We spent most of our time walking along Sixth Avenue, discussing and examining the remaining Cast-Iron department stores.

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Flatiron Building, 175 5th Ave At 23rd St., New York City, NY 10010-7703

We discuss the construction of the Flatiron, one of New York's most iconic buildings, and then walk Broadway back to Union Square.

Duration: 30 minutes