General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York

The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York is an educational and cultural association at 20 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was founded on November 17, 1785, by 22 men who gathered in Walter Heyer's public-house at No. 75 King Street (renamed Pine Street), one block from Wall Street, in Lower Manhattan. The aims of the General Society were to provide cultural, educational and social services to families of skilled craftsmen. The General Society during this early period celebrated the mutuality and centrality of the craft community. Besides its charitable activities, the society played a prominent part in the festivities that marked patriotic holidays, carrying banners emblazoned with its slogan 'By hammer and hand all arts do stand', echoing the motto of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths.

The city of New York and the Society both benefited from the decision to make New York the seat of the Federal Government. In 1789, legislators and their assistants and families began to pour into the city. Business prospects brightened considerably. In 1792, the Society attained a membership of 413, and received a charter of incorporation. Old documents reveal that the Society was quite active in the last years of the 18th century, corresponding with other business related associations, and petitioning the state legislature in the interests of industrial progress.