Exploring New York's Soho (History & Guide)

SoHo, short for "South of Houston," is one of New York's trendiest neighborhoods. Innovative restaurants and fashion-forward shops line Broome and Spring Streets, and artists reside above in modern lofts. But it is also part of the SoHo Cast-Iron Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. Its beautiful old buildings hold stories of the neighborhood's fascinating history, urban decline and regeneration. It was once the center of New York's show business world and its most infamous red-light district. The richest and poorest Manhattanites walked these streets: John Jacob Astor, Harry Houdini, Aaron Burr and P. T. Barnum. Local authors Alfred Pommer and Eleanor Winters reveal these and other stories of an ever-changing SoHo.