The Original Free Academy – Baruch Campus Evolution

The Free Academy building covered in ivy. There are many men in suits and hats outside the building and in the street. — Free Academy, *Lexicon*, 1958.
(Baruch College Archives)

The corner of 23rd Street and Lexington Avenue which is now 17 Lexington Avenue, is the site of the original Free Academy building.

It was designed by the architect James Renwick, Jr. The interior of the building consisted of eighteen classrooms and a chapel or an assembly hall. For 1848 standards it was considered very modern with gaslights, drinking fountains and a warm-air heating system.

The total cost of the building was $68,000!