New York City's Dakota: Pictures of the Building's History

October 12, 2015 11:00 AM EDT

Over the years, it appeared in the pages of TIME as the home of Lauren Bacall, the backdrop of Rosemary’s Baby and the tragic scene of John Lennon’s killing. When the New York City apartment building the Dakota was built, however, it was a stretch to believe that anything noteworthy might happen in such a place.

“A $1 million apartment house was considered a folly in the 1880s, when Entrepreneur Edward Clark broke ground west of Central Park at 72nd Street. Rich New Yorkers had never favored apartment living. The site was also so far north and west of fashionable society that it was nicknamed the Dakota after the remote Western territory,” TIME explained in a 1979 review of a book about the building. “Yet Clark went ahead with his ersatz castle, variously described as German Renaissance and Victorian chateau.”

As historian Andrew Alpern explains in his upcoming book The Dakota: A History of the World’s Best-Known Apartment Building—from which the images above are drawn—that early doubt was quickly dispelled and the building went on to become one of New York City’s most recognizable landmarks.

The Dakota: A History of the World’s Best-Known Apartment Building by Andrew Alpern, published by Princeton Architectural Press, will be available beginning Oct. 13.

Perhaps the earliest known image of the Dakota, while still under construction. The Central Park statue of Daniel Webster, in bronze on a granite pedestal, was sculpted by Thomas Ball and erected in 1876, only four years before work on the Dakota was begun. From a lantern slide, courtesy of Brian Merlis

Edward Clark, about age 60.Courtesy of Princeton Architectural Press

Prior to 1891 when the Hotel Majestic was begun. The statue of Daniel Webster is still there. — Prior to 1891 when the Hotel Majestic was begun across the street. The statue of Daniel Webster that can be seen in the photo is still there in Central Park today.Courtesy of Princeton Architectural Press

A colored flag would signal that the ice was thick enough to permit skating on the lake. The Dakota dominated the scene. — Skaters on the lake in Central Park. The Dakota dominated the scene. Shepp’s New York City Illustrated

The west façade of the Dakota circa 1889.Office for Metropolitan History

A pencil drawing over a tinted gesso base .Richard Britell

A romanticized drawing of the Dakota from 1889Frank Leslie’s Newspaper, 7 September 1889

The photograph can be dated to about 1910 by the automobiles at the curb, and by the presence of the Langham Apartments at 135 Central Park West between 73rd and 74th Streets, which was completed in 1906. The sentry box for the guard has been replaced by a sign that warns visitors that “Any Person Taking Flowers or Leaves or defacing shrubbery in any Portion of the Park will be detained or Arrested and Punished.” The central gable on 72nd Street has now gained another small dormer window, and the south side of the central gable on Central Park West has single one near the top as well. — The photograph can be dated to about 1910 by the automobiles at the curb, and by the presence of the Langham Apartments at 135 Central Park  West between 73rd and 74th Streets, which was completed in 1906. Detroit Publishing Co.

Pencil drawing of the Dakota entrance by Richard Britell.Courtesy of Princeton Architectural Press

The Dakota from the northeast with the 1930 Majestic Apartments at 115 Central Park West at the left. At the right is the corner of the 1906 Langham at 135 Central Park West. — The Dakota seen today, from the northeast.Kenneth Grant

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