This building at 125 Eagle Street looks like it was once something, and sure enough it was. It was built in 1891 as the Children's Mission, a project of the Greenpoint Reformed Church on Kent Street. The Mission was established on November 20, 1881 as a Sunday school occupying a storefront on Eagle Street. The school quickly grew, adding rooms in a nearby building, but by 1883 those accommodations were already insufficient and the children of the school began raising money for a new building. Over the course of seven or eight years the students raised about $1,500. A benefactor - in the form of John Englis of Clinton Avenue - stepped up, bought the lot at 125 Eagle Street and donated about $6,000 for the construction of the building. Other donations swelled the pool to $14,000 and construction was begun.1
The Children's Mission was designed by architect W. Wheeler Smith, who also designed the Sunday School for the Reformed Church (the building fronting on Java Street). W. Landridge was the mason and Stephen M. Randall the carpenter.2 The building was dedicated on June 28, 1891. The total cost of the project was about $20,000, with the last $5,500 of that raised on the day of the dedication.3
The building sat vacant for many years until, circa 2013, it was rehabilitated for residential use. Sadly, that renovation removed the gabled parapet and attic window, along with other architectural details.
125 Eagle Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222
United States