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Meeker Avenue (Kosciuszko) Bridge

The Meeker Avenue Bridge was a steel truss bridge that spanned Newtown Creek. The bridge opened on August 23, 1939 and replaced an earlier swing bridge that connected Greenpoint to Maspeth. The cost of construction was between $6 million and $13 million. The bridge had two 32'-wide roadways separated by a 4'-wide mall as well as two 8'-wide walkways "protected by high curbs and barricades".

In July 1940 the bridge was renamed in honor of Polish general Tadeusz Kościuszko, a hero of the American Revolution.

Talbot Hamlin

Talbot Hamlin (1889-1956) was an architect and academic active in the design of ecclesiastical architecture. Hamlin graduated from Amherst College in 1910 and Columbia University's Architecture School in 1914. His early practice included a number of projects in China. Starting in 1920, he was affiliated with Henry McGill. The two worked together in various partnerships from 1921 to 1930. From 1934 until his death in 1956, Hamlin was the Librarian at Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University.

403 Broadway

"Mr. Frederick B. Smith, artist, author and actor, has disposed of a lot at the corner of Broadway and Eleventh [Hooper] street, to Mr. Thomas Bell, the grocer. He has engaged Messrs. Quinn & Reilly to to erect a four story store and dwelling, twenty-five by fifty feet.

St. Peter Claver Church & Institute

The history of St. Peter Claver parish dates to 1915, the year that the Catholic Colored Club (CCC) was founded by Jules DeWeever.  The Club was formed with the express purpose of having a “Church for Colored Catholics established in this [Brooklyn] Diocese.”  Coincidentally, at about the same time, in 1916 Bishop McDonnell of Brooklyn called for the establishment of “Home Missions” to meet the needs of the heterogenous Catholic population of the Diocese.  Rev. Bernard Quinn responded to the Bishop’s call by proposing the establishment of a church for African Americans, and volunteered to work on this "Colored Mission" for the Diocese.
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