129 Madison Avenue
Jardine, Hill & Murdock, 1930

Like Madison Square Park, Madison Avenue was named after James Madison, the fourth President of the United States. The Avenue begins at 23^rd Street and extends to the Madison Avenue Bridge at 138^th Street. When the Manhattan street grid was mandated in 1811, there was no avenue between Fourth (now Park) and Fifth Avenues. Madison Avenue was carved out in the 1840s due to the wide distance between Fourth and Fifth Avenues and in order to create more building lots with avenue frontage. This southern section of Madison Avenue is characterized by its fine assortment of large-scale hotels, lofts and office buildings.

The Roger Williams Hotel/Madison Avenue Baptist Church replaced the 1858 Madison Avenue Baptist Church structure that originally stood on this site. In 1930, this residential hotel was constructed with the church incorporated into its first four stories. The building’s Romanesque Revival style recalls the architecture of the original church.