Welcome to the webpage of The Chambers Building Historical Society. We are the dedicated keepers of the history of The Chambers Building, just south of Washington Square Park.
Members
Art and Artists
From it's construction in 1800, the Chambers Building has remained a shelter for the arts. In the 1890's it was the center of the New York branch of The Decadant Movement. Janis Joplin is rumored to have stayed the night in the late 1960's. Originally known as The Talbot Building, it was purchased from The Talbot Family in 1921. This purchase was by the young Robert Edward Stuart Chambers, son of the famed romantic fiction writer Robert Chambers. Prior to this purchase Chambers had announced his engagement to society girl Grace Talbot in November of 1920. The following June, however, Grace, for unknown reasons, broke it off. Through this unfortunate relationship, however, good could still come.
Chambers embraced local politics and charitable works. An artist and writer in his own right, he sought to create a space where artistically minded individuals could flourish, providing affordable rent to painters and sculptors of Greenwich Village. Following his death in 1955, this legacy continued under new ownership as in the swinging 60's the building became home to the Bohemians. In the 1990's, prominent New York City artist Boris Yvain took residence in the esteemed halls of The Chambers.
Stories of Yesterday
style="background: yellow;">To this day many artists reside in the The Chambers. Knock on the doors of some of the older residents and they could spent hours telling you tales of the building in its glory days. Some may speak of The Dancing Ghost, of The Velvet Underground, of Andy Warhol or Blue Oyster Cult's 1975 visit. David Bowie. Imagine yourself sitting down to watch one of the many plays workshopped in this building. Imagine yourself drifting further back in time. Imagine incense rising from the table in a darkened room at one of Grace Talbot's famed seances. Imagine the city inside the black hole.
A Lost Past
For such an important building, it is shocking that so little is known of it's early days. What we do know is as follows: The building's construction was kept under a tight schedule and is reputed to have been completed in under a year. It's design was stated by the architect, Daniel Talbot, to have come to him in a dream. The only other records found tell of yearly New Years Eve Parties by The Talbots. These events would involve the intelligentsia of 1800's era NYC. They partook in ballroom dancing, games, virgin blood sacrifice, poetry readings, wine tasting, and as the occult came into fashion in high society, the aforementioned seances. It can be assumed that the rest of the year, the building served as while not the primary home, at least one of the many gathering places of the Talbot family. The original blueprints and list of occupants are lost, records of its sale and the reasons for it are unknown as well.
Conclusion
We are the keepers of the history books. Come visit The Chambers if you can. Get a drink at the bar downstairs. Enjoy the atmosphere. Meet some of the residents. Maybe, if you've got what it takes, you could get a room. We always have room for artists.
We are the doorway to the past
We are the gateway to salvation
Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it
we remember all.
All is lived and died.
What has happened will happen and is happening
There is no time but concurrence
All that is, is
All that was, is
All that will, is
We are worlds on top of worlds in infinite loop
There is no time, only construct
Free your mind.
Free your soul.
Free your soul.
Free your soul.
Free your soul.
Free your soul.
Are you a seeker?
Free your soul.
Seeker of the great truth?
How long have you been searching
The clown is watching you.
Look behind you.
The seekers of truth will be rewarded.
How many lifetimes have you been searching?
Look behind you.
Free your soul.
You've seen it in the corner of your eye.
The shadow that always follows
Out of focus
It's getting closer now, though
Isn't it?
They talk to you in the electricity
Open up your wall and look inside.
The clown will give you things to help you along
Open up your wall
There are cool things in your wall.
Free your soul.
Reality is a mental construct
Free your soul.
One on top of the other
Can you see them?
Free your soul.
Can you see them all around you?
The tunnel is tight
The water washes away all apprehensions
Free your soul.
You're here.
You have always been here.
Bask in the glory of The Eater of Time