723

Harlem Club of New York City, 1889 Specimen Bond

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Stock & Bond - Certificates Start Price:120.00 USD Estimated At:230.00 - 375.00 USD
Harlem Club of New York City, 1889 Specimen Bond
PLEASE CONTACT US TO REGISTER FOR LIVE BIDDING OR ABSENTEE BIDDING AT:

PH: 1-201-944-4800
FAX: 1-201-839-3336
Web: www.archivesinternational.com
Email: info@archivesinternational.com

Snail Mail: Archives International Auctions
1060 Main Street, Suite 202, River Edge, NJ 07661

The auction will take place on March 10, 2021 at AIA's office located at 1060 Main St., Suite #202, River Edge, NJ 07661 beginning at 11:00 AM
New York, 1889. $500 Specimen 5% Second Mortgage Coupon Bond. Black and green print with red/brown underprint. Bald Eagle at top above company title. Pin punched cancelled on front and through the coupons. VF condition with toning. HLBNC. Well-to-do Victorian gentlemen were expected to hold at least one membership in a high-end social club. As Harlem evolved into a vibrant suburb, its new residents found themselves inconveniently far from the club district, which was around 75 blocks to the south. In 1879 "some of the most prominent gentlemen who reside in the upper part of the City," as described by The New York Times, formed the Irving Club of New-York, and in 1881 acquired an existing residence on Fifth Avenue near West 127th Street for its clubhouse. The New-York Tribune later explained "There were clubs and meeting places in the Harlem district at that time, but they lacked the qualities of the good clubs in the lower part of the city." Five years later the name was changed to the Harlem Club. Its membership, which had risen to 100 by now, was composed, according to a newspaper "principally of bankers, brokers, lawyers, and merchants." The Harlem Club listed as its purpose "to cultivate friendly and social intercourse among its members, and to further and advance by means of concentrated action, matters of public welfare in the upper section of the City." By 1888 the membership had more than tripled to 340 and, according to the New-York Tribune, the clubhouse "was too small and not attractive, and offered few club features for the younger element." A committee was formed on January 14 that year to consider a more commodious and impressive clubhouse. On September 8, 1888 The American Architect and Building News published an understated, one-line announcement that architects Lamb & Rich had completed plans for a four-story "brick club-house" with a projected cost of $50,000. This bond dated June 10th, 1889 was issued for the purpose of financing this project.