Hotel Netherland in New York

The old Hotel Netherland was located at 783 Fifth Avenue, on the northeast corner of 59th Street, in Manhattan, facing the Grand Army Plaza and Central Park. The site is now occupied by the Sherry-Netherland, completed in 1927.

The steel-framed building was 234 feet (71 m) in height. It had a cellar and basement below street level and 17 stories above. It was design in neo-Romanesque style by architect William H. Hume for William Waldorf Astor (1847-1919), the owner of Waldorf Hotel, that opened in March 1893.

The groundwork began in 1892 and the luxury hotel opened its doors in May, 1893, as Hotel New Netherland, with 370 rooms. It was considered then to be the tallest hotel in the world. Its first proprietor was Ferdinand P. Earle (1839-1903). By April, 1894, Early was in financial problems and the hotel was closed. It was leased by Stafford & Whitaker, in June, the same year.

In 1908, it was renamed Hotel Netherland. In June 1915, it changed proprietors from the Netherland Hotel Company to Manger Brothers, proprietors of the New Grand Hotel and other hotels. In 1919, the Sherry's restaurant moved to the Hotel Netherland, later Louis Sherry purchased the hotel. It was demolished in 1926 and replaced by the 38-story Sherry-Netherland Hotel.

Above, the Empire Room in the Hotel Netherland, vintage postcard by Souvenir Postcard Company, postmark 1912. Below, the Grand Foyer, showing historic painting of Peter Minuet, purchasing the Island of Manhattan, postmark 1912. The hotel was decorated with fine pieces and works of art.