Marble Palace

In 1850, Bowen & McNamee opened a new store on Broadway which caused a sensation. Made of white marble, it is considered one of the first “marble palaces” in the country. A contemporary guide to the city referred to it as an “Elizabethan Palace” with the “most showy and elegant front on Broadway.” The  Evening Post found it extraordinary: “for beauty and delicacy it is unsurpassed in the country.” The architect, Joseph Wells, had already designed Roseland Cottage for the Bowens.