POTW: BLDG 77

[Building 77], 1948, v1973.6.365; Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection, ARC.202; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Brooklyn Historical Society and Brooklyn Navy Yard have a thriving partnership leading student, teacher, and after school programs at BLDG 92 in Social Studies and STEM topics, including labor and industry, sustainability, and innovation. Since 2001, the BNY has undergone major upgrades, expansion and growth that has yielded significant growth in employment and industry. Part of that expansion is the opening of the newly remodeled BLDG 77 on November 9.

The original building, seen here in 1948, is an enormous, 16-story concrete building with no windows on the first 11 floors. It was constructed within 5 months in 1941 with the intention to be administrative offices and a major storehouse for the yard. The size of the building created some challenges because of the soft soil below and pilings had to be built 150 below ground in order to support the size and weight of the building. The new building (a rendering can be seen here) will be used as retail and commercial space with the goal of bringing 10,000 jobs to the Navy Yard by 2020.

This photograph comes from the Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection comprised of approximately 7,000 items from the early to mid-20^th century. The collection provides a comprehensive visual documentation of the borough of Brooklyn with images of neighborhoods, homes, buildings, the waterfront, and infrastructure. To view more photographs from this collection, check out this gallery.

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our Brooklyn Visual Heritage website here. To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Sat, 1:00-5:00 p.m. library@brooklynhistory.org