Thomas Wolfe
New York, New York, New York
Marker Inscription
The great American writer Thomas Wolfe 1900 - 1936 author of Look Homeward, Angel, Of Time And The River, The Web And The Rock, You Can't Go Home Again, The Hills Beyond lived in the Chelsea Hotel during the last years of his life. This plaque presented by his American publishers Charles Scribner's Sons & Harper and Brothers
Erected by Charles Scribner's Sons
The Story
The sprawling, autobiographical novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900–1936) spent the last years of his short life at the Chelsea Hotel, the Manhattan haven for writers and artists. Author of Look Homeward, Angel and Of Time and the River, he poured out prose of enormous ambition and emotional force before dying at just thirty-seven. His American publishers, Scribner's and Harper, placed this plaque to honor him where he had lived and worked.
Why it matters
It commemorates one of the most fervent voices of early 20th-century American literature at the legendary hotel that sheltered so many of the nation's writers.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- 81 Leonard Gallery1.9 mi away
- Gerben Fine Art2.0 mi away
- Bureau2.1 mi away · 112 Duane Street
- Hall des Lumières2.2 mi away · 49 Chambers Street, New York, NY
- Cloud Gallery2.2 mi away
- 9/11 Memorial & Museum2.4 mi away · 180 Greenwich Street, New York, NY
Attractions
- The River Project Wetlab1.4 mi away
- FDNY Ladder 81.8 mi away · 14 North Moore Street, New York
- Dream house1.8 mi away
- Cortlandt Alley1.9 mi away
- Textile building1.9 mi away
- Sherman Zwicker2.0 mi away
Food & drink
- Maman2.8 mi away
- Sweetgreen2.8 mi away
- Semicolon Cafe2.9 mi away
- Greene Hook Bar & Kitchen2.9 mi away
- Bluestone Lane2.9 mi away
- Rumi Turkish Grill2.9 mi away
Places to stay
- Conrad2.3 mi away · 102 North End Avenue, New York
- M Social Hotel New York Downtown2.4 mi away · 55 Church Street, New York, NY
- Residence Inn New York Downtown Manhattan/World Trade Center Area2.5 mi away · 170 Broadway, New York, NY
- Holiday Inn2.5 mi away · 51 Nassau Street
- DoubleTree2.5 mi away · 455 Washington Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ
- Sonesta Simply Suites Jersey City2.5 mi away · 21 2nd Street, Jersey City, NJ
Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.
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Related people
- · Thomas Wolfe
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Dylan Thomas
New York, NY · est. 1964
At the storied Chelsea Hotel, long a haven for writers and artists, the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas spent his final creative days before collapsing and dying in New York in 1953. This plaque, dedicated on what would have been his fiftieth birthday, casts his last months in the elegiac language his own poetry made famous. The Chelsea's rooms had sheltered a parade of literary figures, and Thomas became among the most mourned of them.
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In 1822, in a mansion that once stood on this site, scholar Clement Clarke Moore wrote "A Visit from St. Nicholas" as a Christmas gift for his children—the poem that gave America much of its modern image of Santa Claus. A professor of Greek and Hebrew, Moore also helped shape the neighborhood of Chelsea, donating land for St. Peter's Church and the General Theological Seminary.
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Charles Ives (1874–1954) led a double life at this address from 1908 to 1911: a successful insurance executive by day and one of America's most daring composers by night. Drawing on hymns, marches, and folk tunes, his adventurous works—like the Concord Sonata and the Fourth Symphony—stretched rhythm and tonality far beyond the conventions of his era. Long underappreciated, his music later won recognition as strikingly ahead of its time.