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Caroline Schermerhorn Astor (September 21, 1830 – October 30, 1908) was a prominent American socialite of the second half of the 19th century. Born into a wealthy family from New York City's Dutch aristocracy, she married William Backhouse Astor Jr. in 1853. The Astor family had made a fortune through fur trading and real estate. Mrs. Astor became a leading member of the exclusive New York aristocratic society of inherited wealth; by the end of the 19th century she was known as the Mrs. Astor. Adjacent Astor family homes that she had occupied at different times on Fifth Avenue became the first Waldorf–Astoria hotel, and later the site of the Empire State Building.Painting: Carolus-Duran, 1890; Metropolitan Museum of Art