BUSHWICK HAD FAMOUS HOMES






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Brooklyn Standard Union Anniversary Issue 1863-1928

Had Famous Homes

[left margin of article smeared and partially missing]

(?)st changes have come to the lower Bushwick section ­
The portion of it that lies between Bushwick proper and the
Greenpoint section, situated mainly in the Thirteenth Assembly
district.

 John KALBFLEISCHER thought Bushwick Avenue was to be extended
to Greenpoint and not be ---ff by Old Woodpoint Road,
--- the show place of the old --- Williamsburg and named it
KALBFLEISCHER Mansion.  He occupied it during the time he was the
--- of Williamsburg.  He was badly disappointed when the avenue
came to a halt at what is now Metropolitan Avenue.

When the mansion was deserted by the KALBFLEISCHERS there was talk
of razing it and putting up some vacant buildings.  But St. Catherine
Hospital was in need of a suitable home for the nurses, and the
building was finally taken over and is now serving as the home for the
nurses.

In the early days there was a large ---dance at the Union M.E. Church, 
which had a fine building at Conselyea and Leonard Streets, but time 
wore on the members and they moved to other sections of the city.  For
awhile the church building was used as a meeting place of the Thirteenth
Assembly District Taxpayers' Association.  Finally it was sold, and
is now used as a dance hall.

The Old Ewen Street Court.
When arrests were made in the old ---e prisoners were taken to the Ewen
street court in Ewen street now Manhattan Avenue, near ---ers Steet.  
The three-story building that the court occupied at Manhattan
Avenue and Powers Street is now being used by manufacturing concerns.

For a long time the Colby Mission ??6 Powers Street was well patronized.
Later the Mission became the (?) of the Powers Street Episcopal
Church.  This same building, still in --- condition, is the home of the
---enth Assembly District Democratic Club of which Congressman
--e W. LINDSAY is the executive ---er.

(?) the good old days of Williamsburg there were many Baptists living
in the section and the majority of them attended the Second Baptist Church
in Ainslie Street near Graham Avenue.  But the membership dwindled and
the building is now being used as a synagogue.

The Lutherans did their worship at the Graham Avenue Lutheran Church in
Graham Avenue near Jack--- (?) Street.  But this edifice had to be
(?)en up when the neighborhood changed and it too is being used as a synagogue.

Old Church Remains.
The old Ainslie Street Presbyterian Church, with its quaint old steeple and
its spacious grounds, covered with grass and flowers in the summer, is still
active and has a fairly active membership.

The Colonial houses erected by the --- Building Company, of which (?)MSON is
the head, in Grand (?) between Humboldt Street and (?)m Avenue, were the
show places of the lower Bushwick section in the days when eggs sold
twenty-five for twenty-five cents.  It was in some of these buildings that
the Sisters of the Dominican Order first settled and planned for the
erection of St. Catherine's Hospital, the beautiful building which now
occupies the block on Bushwick Avenue, between Ten Eyck and Maujer Streets.
These buildings have since been razed to make way for the growth of the
Bushwick Savings Bank.  For a long while one of the buildings was used as
the headquarters of the Ennis Democratic Club, of which the late Fire
Commissioner John ENNIS was the standard bearer.

The Armory of the Thirty-second.
All the big social events of lower Bushwick were held in the Armory Hall, at
Stagg Street and Bushwick Avenue.  It was the home of the Thirty-second
Infantry.  There was a fuss at the armory one night which, old timers say,
developed into a scandal, and the infantry went out of existence.  For a
while the armory remained idle.  It is now used by Public School 117.  The
spacious drill floor serves as the playground for the pupils.
When the people of the Thirteenth District insisted that they should have
improved police protection, the Herbert Street station came into existence.
At that time it was opened in a store in Frost Street, near Graham Avenue.
It was subsequently moved to Herbert Street.
For many years Bushwick had to go without a place where its medical wants
could be satisfied.  Along came D.J.J. KNIPE and erected a four-story
building in Grand Street, near Graham Avenue, where he opened one of the
largest and best equipped drug stores in the city.  The business is still
being conducted at the old stand.
The first real bakery that lower Bushwick enjoyed was opened by A. HIRSCHMAN
at Power Street and Graham Avenue.  It was here that much of the bread for
the soldiers in the Civil War was baked.  The building was destroyed by fire
after it had been up six years and was rebuilt.  Later the building came
into possession of the COOK family, who conducted a milk store there, and
now there is a factory building on the site.

"Slim's" Place.
"Slim" DONOVAN, a character in the old days, conducted the finest saloon 
in the old town of Williamsburg, at Powers Street and Graham Avenue.  
But the old frame structure that housed the saloon and home of Slim is 
no more.  In its place stands the four-story brick building of the 
Metropolitan Tobacco Company.

Next door to Slim's place was the McCusker horse shoeing shop.  It is still
there, being conducted by Alderman John J. MC CUSKER, and is one of the few
such places to be found in the city.  It hasn't been changed a bit from its
early days except to be brightened up with a few coats of paint.


Transcriber: Mimi Stevens
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