History

The Down Town Association is the fifth oldest of all existing New York clubs, preceded by only the Union Club (1836), New York Yacht Club (1844), Century Association (1847), and Harmonie Club (1852). The organizational meeting, which resulted in the formation of the Association, was held at the Astor House on December 23, 1859. The first general meeting of the Association was held on February 14, 1860, and a charter was granted by an act of the legislature of the State of New York on April 17, 1860.

To provide for a clubhouse, 22 Exchange Place was purchased for $30,000 and our first home was opened for business on September 10, 1860. Unfortunately, the opening years of the Civil War proved not the best time to establish a luncheon club. Despite the financial support of the members, the expenses of the Association required 250 members, some 100 more than were on the rolls. On June 11, 1862, the members voted to close the clubhouse on June 22, 1862, and liquidate the Association's assets. The Association went dormant.

On January 9, 1877, a call for reorganization went out to the leading businessmen of New York. The call was evidently well received as the Association was formally reorganized on May 2, 1877, at Delmonico's. Interestingly, five of the Trustees elected at that meeting were among the original organizers of the Association in 1859. Rooms were rented at 50-52 Pine Street and these were opened for use in February 1878. The Association was popular enough so that on December 19, 1884, the membership voted to purchase 60-62 Pine Street, running through to Cedar Street, for $98,000 and to erect on that site a suitable clubhouse.

Noted architect Charles C. Haight, a member of the Association, was engaged as architect in April 1886. By the time the Club House opened on May 23, 1887, $306,669.25 had been spent on land, buildings, and furnishings. 

All members should be proud of the fact that ours is the oldest clubhouse in New York City built and still occupied by its members, and, we believe, the second such oldest (behind the Hope of Providence) in the United States. In 1902, 64 Pine Street was leased for use and in 1906, 20 Cedar Street was leased. Membership, which stood at 500 when the Club House opened, was 1,000 at this time and more room was needed. Accordingly, building plans were circulated to the members on January 19, 1910, and, the response to these being favorable, Warren & Wetmore were engaged as architects. Architect Whitney Warren was a member of the Association. On March 16, 1911, the expanded Club House was completed at a cost of $175,556.76. This expenditure added all the rooms to the east of the lobby and staircase. The Club House was built to the highest standards and it remains one of the finest examples of Romanesque Revival architecture in New York City.

The Association's membership has always been drawn from among the leading individuals of the New York business community. Originally weighted heavily towards brokers and financiers, the membership was predominately drawn from the legal community after 1920. More recently, Wall Street has regained its former position with a healthy component of members from the insurance and technology industries. While women were welcome as guests from the opening of the Association, they were first welcomed to membership in 1985.

Conceived as a luncheon club, the DTA at one time was only the most prestigious of many similar clubs in Lower Manhattan. Because no one, at least no one who could join a club, lived in Lower Manhattan, these clubs had no need to offer the divertissements of their uptown brethren such as breakfast and dinner, athletic facilities or sleeping rooms (although, when our building was built, these last two amenities were also non-existent in the better social clubs, then located all the way up around Madison Square). As the skyscraper became synonymous with Lower Manhattan so too did most luncheon clubs become synonymous with dining high in the sky. Almost all of the better clubs, the Bankers, the Lawyers, the Broad Street Club, and the Recess were a few, occupied aeries, with only the DTA, India House, and the Merchants Club staying firmly on the ground. Indeed, even the DTA was offered the opportunity, in November 1929, to sell our building and move to several upper floors of what became 70 Pine Street. This proposal was soundly rejected by the members, undoubtedly a wise decision as none of the once numerous groups of clubs with a view remain today.

Times and tastes change, and by the early 1990s Lower Manhattan and the luncheon club, and, indeed, social clubs in general, appeared to be in terminal decline. Almost every one of our downtown peers had closed or would close over the next decade. Where we once served 843 lunches per day we were lucky to serve 100. Our members were moving uptown with their businesses or simply retiring. However, thanks to the dedication of several members who refused to face the obvious reality, we held together. Gradually at first, but then at a faster pace, the DTA began a transformation into a club which reflects the new Lower Manhattan and the interests of a younger generation of members. Lunch became one of only several options for members: breakfast and evening drinks began in 1995, the wine cellar opened in 1996, pool tables arrived in 1997, dinner service was started in 2001, and the Fitness Center opened in 2004. Our list of reciprocal clubs was expanded from three in Manhattan to 110 around the world. Along the way the Club House was rewired, replastered, repainted, redecorated and given its first good exterior cleaning ever. Fireplaces were reopened, bathrooms were recreated and storage rooms gave way to the Game Room and the Fitness Center. Our beautiful rooms became popular for social events and our landmarked building has enough room for expansion that the Trustees and Managers can easily envision squash courts and bedrooms in the future. The DTA member of 1911 would still feel quite at home, however, in everything that matters.

The Down Town Association remains an island of quiet civility in a bustling Lower Manhattan. As a locus for nourishment, entertainment, relaxation or quiet discourse, it remains of and for its members.