234

James J.F. Gavigan

Original architect's rendering for Manhattan's Cherokee Club, an outpost of Tammany Hall on the Upper East Side.

New York, circa 1900
Watercolor and pencil on paper, 23¼ x 11¼ inches to sight, signed and captioned by the architect; professionally removed from original board and tastefully conserved, with 3 x 1½-inch area in upper right corner restored. Not examined out of frame. 

  • Notes: The Cherokee Club was formed circa 1884 as a branch of the Tammany Hall Democratic Party machine that had been built up by the late Boss Tweed. They soon outgrew their original clubhouse at 336 East 79th Street, and this new headquarters was commissioned to replace it. 

    The New York Times reported on 25 November 1899 that the clubhouse was being torn and replaced with a new building with "a brownstone front, with terra cotta and bluestone copings." The New York Tribune of the same date named James J.F. Gavigan (1866-1951) as the architect. The twin reliefs of Cherokee Indians above the doorway were a distinctive feature. 

    The Cherokee Club's decline was documented in a 10 November 1968 New York Times article, "Tammany Rooms No Longer Smoky," and after a failed landmark application, the clubhouse was demolished circa 1976. Another Times article from 28 May 1995 recalled that a large portrait of Boss Tweed had hung inside the door. 

    The club's name is still commemorated in the neighborhood: Cherokee Place is the short street which forms the west boundary of John Jay Park, The Cherokee is a co-op apartment building on Cherokee Place, and the nearby post office on York Street still bears the name of Cherokee Finance Station.
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November 20, 2025 10:30 AM EST
New York, NY, US

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