Webster Hall was built in 1886 by architect
Charles Rentz in the
Queen Anne style and topped with an elaborate
mansard roof. Six years later in 1892, Rentz was hired to design an addition to the building, occupying the site of 125 East 11th Street and designed in the
Renaissance Revival style using the same materials as the original building. Throughout the early twentieth century the building was plagued by fires, which occurred in 1902, 1911, 1930, 1938, and 1949. The original mansard roof was likely lost in one of these fires. Originally commissioned by Charles Goldstein – who operated the hall and also lived in the Annex with his family until his death in 1898 – the building was a "hall for hire" from its inception. The first decade or so of Webster Hall's existence saw it host countless
labor union rallies, weddings, meetings, lectures, dances, military functions, concerts, fundraisers and other events, particularly those focused on the working-class and immigrant population of the surrounding
Lower East Side neighborhood. Although it also hosted many high-society functions catering to the
uppertens of the city, the hall earned a reputation as a gathering place for leftist,
socialist,
Anarchist and labor union activity very early on. In 1912,
Emma Goldman, the outspoken exponent of Anarchism,
free love and
birth control, led a march that brought the children of striking
Lawrence, Massachusetts millworkers to the hall for a meal in order to dramatize the struggles of the working class. In 1916, it was used as the strike headquarters for the
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union; in 1920 meetings of the
Sacco and Vanzetti Defense Committee were also held at Webster Hall. In the 1910s and 1920s, Webster Hall became known for its
masquerade balls and other
soirees reflecting the
hedonism of the city's
Bohemians. Nicknamed the "Devil's Playhouse" by the socialist magazine
The Masses, Webster Hall became particularly known for the wilder and more risque events of the time;
Marcel Duchamp,
Joseph Stella,
Man Ray,
Francis Picabia,
Charles Demuth,
F. Scott Fitzgerald,
Langston Hughes,
Bob Brown, and many other notables regularly attended events there during this time. The coming of
Prohibition did not restrict the availability of alcohol at these events. Local politicians and police were said to turn a blind eye to the activities; at one time it was rumored that the venue was owned by the mobster
Al Capone. The repeal of Prohibition was the reason for one of Webster Hall's biggest celebrations, "The Return of
John Barleycorn". In 1938, reporting on a fire in the building,
The New York Times wrote: "Webster Hall ... began by seeing redcheeked debutantes introduced to society and ended – if ended it has – by seeing red-nosed bohemians thumbing defiance at society." ==1950–1979==