Designated February 10, 1987
The 614 Courtland Avenue Building, an early multi-use building in the Bronx, was built in 1871-72 for Julius Ruppert and contained a saloon, public rooms, meeting rooms, and a residential apartment. Most likely the work of a builder-contractor, the imposing building displays a variety of early to late Second Empire style motifs successfully combined to reconcile the several uses contained within the building with their exterior expression. Hewlett S. Baker’s renovation in 1882 only further enriched the facade.
The building is a monument to the first stage of urbanization within what had been the previously rural south Bronx, helping by its presence to establish a sense of place in the new village of Melrose South. The building also has many of the stylistic features which characterized those along the Bowery in the area known as “Kleine Deutschland,” where Julius Ruppert first established his business before following his fellow Germans to The Bronx. With its varied uses, the building sheltered a variety of German ethnic activities.
