[Gowanus Canal Grain Terminal], circa 1930, Photographic print, v1973.5.978; Brooklyn Historical Society.Situated at the mouth of the Gowanus Canal in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook, the Red Hook Grain Terminal was built in 1922, as part of the New York State Canal System (formerly known as the New York State Barge Canal). This project was a plan to incorporate a new series of waterways to re-route and improve shipping along the Erie Canal. The New York State Canal System also included the Cayuga-Seneca Canal, the Champlain Canal, and the Oswego Canal.
The Erie Canal…
C.M. Tacopina, [Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, Construction], 1963, Color slide, v1984.1.154; Brooklyn Historical Society. Designed by Swiss-American engineer Othmar H. Ammann, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge was built between 1959 and 1964. It is the longest suspension bridge in North America as well as the eleventh longest in the world. Totaling 4,260 in length across New York Harbor, it crosses the Narrows waterway from the shore lines of Fort Hamilton in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bay Ridge to Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island. The bridge is named after sixteenth-century…
Donald L. Nowlan, [Pond], circa 1975, Color print, v1990.2.241; Brooklyn Historical Society. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s (BBG’s) Japanese Hill-and Pond Garden was the first Japanese garden curated within a public botanic garden in America. Designed by Japanese-American landscape architect Takeo Shiota, the garden took two years to complete, opening to the public in 1915. The project cost $13,000 and was funded largely by a gift from Alfred T. White, a benefactor and trustee.
In 1947, Japanese-American Gardener Frank Okamura was hired to care for the Japanese Hill-and-Pond…
[Cyclists in Grand Army Plaza], circa 1900, Black-and-white-photograph, v1987.41.7; Brooklyn Historical Society.Towering over the northern entrance of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Arch was built between 1889-1892 in the Beaux-Arts style as part of Prospect Park Plaza, known today as Grand Army Plaza. Construction of the arch was supported in part by the Grand Army of the Republic, a private fraternal organization for Union Army veterans of the American Civil War founded just after the war’s end, in 1866. The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial…
bhs_v1989.18.63_tJoseph Maraio, Fulton Ferry Fireboat House prior to renovation, circa 1975, color slide, v1989.18.63; Brooklyn Historical Society.Located in the Fulton Ferry Historic District in Brooklyn, the Fulton Ferry Fireboat House was built in 1926 on the former site of the old Fulton Ferry Terminal.
Two years’ prior, Brooklyn’s Union Ferry Company had terminated service from this location due to the declining number of ferry commuters. This occurred in part because the early 1900s saw a rise in alternate means of available transportation including automobiles and…
[Schenck-Crooke House], circa 1900, photogravure, v1981.283.58; Brooklyn Historical Society. Originally located at 21-33 East 63rd Street in the Flatlands neighborhood of Brooklyn, The Schenck-Crooke House was built between 1675-1677 and is considered to be one of the oldest Dutch colonial houses in New York.
The Schenck family arrived from Holland in 1650 and settled in the area then known as Amersfoot. Twenty-five years later on December 29, 1675, Jan Martense Schenck purchased his own farmland and built the house on the property. Designed in the traditional Dutch colonial…
Interior view of Kings Theatre, circa 1950; v1973.5.1847; Brooklyn Historical Society. Located in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush, the Loews Kings Theatre opened its doors on September 7, 1929 with a screening of Evangeline, directed by the prolific filmmaker Edwin Carewe. The theatre was then one of the five “wonder theaters” of New York and New Jersey, all owned by Loews and with similar grandiose designs. The Kings Theatre was the flagship of the company.
Programming originally included a stage show accompanied by a feature film, but production costs coinciding with…
Alfred C. Loonam, Jay St., Brooklyn, N. of Willoughby St., 1950 ca; photograph, v1974.2.16; Brooklyn Historical Society. In 1892, the Brooklyn Fire Department opened its headquarters at 365-67 Jay Street, located between Myrtle Avenue and Willoughby Street in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights. The building was designed by renowned Richardsonian Romanesque Style (and later, Neoclassical) architect Frank Freeman, also known for such brilliant works as the Herman Behr Mansion in Brooklyn Heights, and the Eagle Warehouse in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Six…
Huron Street Public Bath, 1905; illustration, v1973.6.276; Brooklyn Historical Society. The Huron Street Public Bath was built in 1903 and opened its doors in 1904 amidst New York City’s Public Bath Movement, a city-wide Progressive Era initiative intended to improve the lives and living conditions of city dwellers who lived in tenements.
At the turn of the century, bathrooms in tenements were not required by city law. Without running water, people were dependent on water provided by city pumps. This lack of personal hygiene combined with overcrowding contributed to the…
Ralph Irving Lloyd, Hicks-Platt House, Gravesend, circa 1915; lantern slide, v1981.15.5; Brooklyn Historical Society.
In 1643, English Anabaptist Lady Deborah Moody, along with a group of English colonists from Massachusetts, arrived in New Amsterdam to seek out religious freedom. At the time, Director Williem Kieft of the Dutch West India Company needed people to settle and defend the land in Brooklyn he had recently stolen from the local Lenape tribe. Kieft granted a land patent for Moody and her group to establish the area, thus founding what is now the Brooklyn…
Ralph Irving Lloyd, Paerdegat [Basin], circa 1910, lantern slide, v1981.15.144; Brooklyn Historical Society.The saltwater wetland known as Paerdegat Basin is nestled between the southern Brooklyn neighborhoods of Canarsie and Georgetown. The word Paerdegat derives from the Dutch meaning “horse gate”, but over the years the basin was also known by other names including Bestevaar Kill, Bedford Creek, and Paerdegat Creek.
In the early 1900s, this area seemed quite solitary and pleasant, which you can get a sense of from the above image. The trees surrounding the basin were part…
38080B5BMozart in Concert Grove, Prospect Park, ca. 1897, V1973.2.294; Brooklyn oversize 19th century collection, V1973.002; Brooklyn Historical Society. Have you ever wondered why a bronze bust of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart resides in Prospect Park? The story of how the world-renowned Austrian composer’s likeness came to be in Brooklyn dates back to the year 1897.
If you take a stroll through the southeastern side of Prospect Park in Brooklyn you will find yourself in Concert Grove. The area was originally designed for park-goers to leisurely enjoy live music in the nearby…
Hotel Margaret, ca. 1930, V1984.1.458; Brooklyn Slide Collection, V1984.001; Brooklyn Historical Society. For years the majestic Hotel Margaret stood on the corner of Columbia Heights and Orange Street in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, overlooking the New York harbor with a grand view of Manhattan. The ten-story hotel once laid claim to being the tallest building in Brooklyn, the sun parlor on the top floor offering a panoramic view of the city in all directions. The building was designed using polychrome shades of stone which provided even more allure to…
Prospect Park Picnic Ground, ca.1920, V1980.2.88; Prospect Park lantern slide collection, V1980.002; Brooklyn Historical Society.Spring has officially sprung! It’s time to put away those winter clothes and bask in the warm rays of the sun. One particular activity I look forward to when the weather permits is having a relaxing picnic. In 1920s Brooklyn, the picnic grounds in Prospect Park were quite the hot ticket as you can see above. Let’s hope the park doesn’t get this crowded over the next few weeks as it gets even warmer. Regardless, go outside and enjoy!
This image…
Squibb Plant, Brooklyn, V1973.5.789; Brooklyn Photograph and Illustration Collection, ARC.202; Brooklyn Historical Society. After serving as a physician at the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Medical Station, Edward Robinson Squibb founded his own pharmaceutical manufacturing company, The Squibb Company, in 1858. In 1892, he formed a partnership with his family and changed the name to E.R. Squibb and Sons. During the 1920s, Squibb hired architect Russell G. Cory and associate Walter M. Cory of Turner Construction Company to design and build a new manufacturing plant located at 25-30…
Brighton Beach Hotel, being moved back from the ocean, April 3rd, 1888, V1973.6.661; Brooklyn Photograph and Illustration collection, ARC.202; Brooklyn Historical Society. After becoming a millionaire selling mules and horses to the Union Army during the American Civil War, William Engeman returned home to New York where he purchased the land nestled between Coney Island and Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn for twenty thousand dollars, then known as Middle Division. He renamed the newly acquired land Brighton Beach and in 1870 opened the Ocean Hotel, a modest structure compared to…
Stauch’s Baths, 1984, V1992.48.1; Anders Goldfarb photographs of Coney Island, V1992.048; Brooklyn Historical Society.Above is a photograph by Anders Goldfarb of Stauch’s Baths on the Coney Island Boardwalk. Once a popular destination for gay men in the 1940-50s, it fell into disrepair after a fire destroyed the building in 1983, and was eventually torn down in 1992. You may also recognize the building from Walter Hill’s iconic 1979 film The Warriors. The graffiti prominently displayed on the front of the bath house was added by the production crew for the opening scene of…
v200801340[Man and Dog], V2008.013.40; Lucille Fornasieri Gold Photographs, 2008.013; Brooklyn Historical Society.In Prospect Park a dapper fellow sits on a bench, cigarette in hand, and dog by his side.
Most likely, this pair of friends are patiently awaiting the first signs of springtime just as we all are doing here in New York City. This week’s photo is dedicated to our canine friends who endure all kinds of weather conditions to be by our side. The trusted sidekick and best friend to all humans, who is looking forward to a springtime walk in the park just as much as you…
v19743160Red Hook Park Paths (Coffey Park), V1974.3.160; Praeger Survey Collection, V1974.003; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Coffey Park sits snug in the middle of Red Hook.
Before it was Coffey Park, it was Red Hook Park. Before that it was a patch of land in a developing neighborhood of Brooklyn. Due to the rise of the waterfront industry and population growth of the mid to late 1800s, Red Hook grew in size. People arrived, houses were built, and a park was declared. It was named after Michael Coffey, a well-known representative of the district and long-time…
v1973.5.367Dedication of Bronze Plaque on Morse Monument in Green-Wood Cemetery, April 27th, 1968, V1973.5.367; Brooklyn Photograph and Illustration Collection, ARC.202; Brooklyn Historical Society.Samuel Finley Breese Morse, the American painter and inventor of the telegraph, died on April 2nd, 1872 in New York City and was subsequently buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenwood Heights.
Years later in honor of his 177th birthday, the Morse Telegraph Club (MTC) commissioned a commemorative bronze plaque to be placed on the monument. The…