Jefferson Market Library, New York

Check out Greenwich Village's own fairy-tale structure that once served as a courthouse, market, and community battleground—welcome to the Jefferson Market Library! Its story dates back to 1833, when this corner of the Village wasn’t trendy but practical. A country market stood here, complete with a wooden fire watchtower and a 9,000-pound bell that probably woke half of Manhattan before alarms were a thing. Fishermen, vegetable sellers, and poultry merchants packed the stalls until the entire setup was cleared in 1877 to make way for a very different kind of local attraction.

That replacement was the Jefferson Market Courthouse, a High Victorian Gothic creation by Frederick Clarke Withers and Calvert Vaux—the latter being the same guy who helped shape Central Park. With its multicolored brickwork, sharp arches, and flamboyant clock tower, the building immediately stole the show. In fact, by 1885, a national architectural poll ranked it among the ten most beautiful buildings in the United States, proving that the Village has always had a flair for style...

For decades, the courthouse was the neighborhood’s unofficial drama stage. Court cases came and went, tracking the city’s shifting social trends, while a nearby jail—later turned into a women’s detention center—added another layer to the block’s complicated personality. By the mid-20th century, the building found itself on the brink of demolition, targeted by the era’s sweeping urban renewal plans.

That’s when Village residents stepped in, rallied hard, and won. Their preservation campaign led architect Giorgio Cavaglieri to reinvent the building rather than erase it. In 1967, the former courthouse reopened as a New York Public Library branch, setting a national example for how to re-imagine civic landmarks without flattening them.

Today, the clock tower still crowns the neighborhood, the old courtroom has a second life as a reading room, and details like the spiral staircase give the place its delightful, slightly theatrical charm. With a guest pass, you can wander through the upper floors, then unwind in the small public garden next door—a pocket of calm for anyone needing a breather from Manhattan’s nonstop rhythm.