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House Raising

1870s
Not on view
As Manhattan’s population expanded in the early nineteenth century, many working-class residents relocated to the city’s more rural northern wards to escape rising downtown rents. This tenth-ward scene takes place on Grand between Eldridge and Allen Streets (in today’s Lower East Side). A master builder and several journeymen, some with long pike poles, work to raise one side (called a "bent") of a timber-frame house. For years, New York had tried unsuccessfully to prohibit wood structures in favor of more fire-friendly brick or stone. At right, what are possibly the flames from a forge can be seen through the window of a blacksmith’s shop.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: House Raising
  • Artist: William P. Chappel (American, 1801–1878)
  • Date: 1870s
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on slate paper
  • Dimensions: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 in. (15.6 x 23.5 cm)
  • Credit Line: The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps, and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954
  • Object Number: 54.90.512
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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Tea Party
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Fighting a Fire, William P. Chappel American, Oil on slate paper, American
Fighting a Fire
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Infant Funeral Procession, William P. Chappel American, Oil on slate paper, American
Infant Funeral Procession
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Bull's Head Tavern, William P. Chappel American, Oil on slate paper, American
Bull's Head Tavern
William P. Chappel
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