Steinway & Sons piano company started

The first piano made by Steinway & Sons was given the number 483 because Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg had built 482 pianos in Germany. Number 483 was sold to a New York family for $500. In its first year of business, Steinway produced 11 pianos.

Demand was such and piano-making required a good deal of space, that the company moved to larger premises at 82–88 Walker Street, at the time it was New York City’s piano row.

The emergence of an American middle class boosted the demand for pianos they rented stores in SoHo (Mercer and Crosby streets), plus a lumber yard on 23rd Street. As demand grew. Steinway had built and moved into a factory at Park Avenue and Lexington Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Street (the present site of the Seagram Building) where it covered a whole block. The 175,000 square-foot, five-story architect-designed factory was built, with a workforce of 350 men, production increased from 500 to nearly 1,800 pianos per year.

Steinway Hall, located at 109 East 14th Street in New York City, opened as a grand marble showroom that became one of the most elegant spaces in the city. This wareroom combined showrooms for Steinway pianos with studios for musicians. Two years later, a concert hall was added, featuring space for a full orchestra and an audience of 2,500 people.

Over the years, Steinway Hall became a hub for performances by many celebrated musicians, including pianist Anton Rubinstein, soprano Christina Nilsson, and conductor Walter Damrosch. In addition to musical performances, the hall hosted notable lectures and readings. In 1867 and 1868, Charles Dickens gave readings at Steinway Hall. 

Work began on a factory plus homes and amenities for workers at Steinway Village in Astoria, Queens.

Steinway Hall was relocated to West 57 th Street, across from Carnegie Hall. It is now at Sixth Avenue and 43 rd Street, next to Town Hall.