New entries

James Rodwell

James Rodwell was a builder who was very active in Williamsburgh and Bushwick from 1834 through the 1880s. In addition to his work as a builder, Rodwell was also a real estate speculator and served as Fire Commissioner for the City of Brooklyn and was a director for various banks and fire insurance companies in Williamsburgh.

316-318 South 5th Street

The two buildings at 316 and 318 South 5th Street (which were later renumbered to 318 and 320) were nearly identical to the rest of the buildings on the south side of North 5th between Marcy Avenue and Rodney Street. The only detail distinguishing these two buildings from the rest of the row is the treatment of the basement (brick with brownstones trim instead of rusticated brownstone).

812 Grand Street

Real Estate Record lists this as two buildings on Grand Street, "ss, 80 w Bushwick av". The description would point to 806 and 808 Grand Street, however these are part of a larger row of Italianate buildings and 806 is only 25' wide.

Nathan Hindin

I came across this photo posted in a local history group - the only information provided was the caption, "Leonard Street 1916". Based on the photo and caption, there was not a lot to go on. A stern gentleman - let's call him Nathan - standing in front of a rowhouse. Judging by the ironwork and windows, the buildings to the right appear to be 1850s transitional Italianate/Greek Revival. Nathan's building - based just on the ironwork (nothing else is visible) - is not part of the same development and is probably early 1840s. So where is this photo?

68 Grand Street

Constructed in the early 1830s as a single-family residence. The original building was probably two-and-a-half stories and enlarged to three stories by the 1840s. As early as 1870, the building had been converted to multi-family use, with a Chinese laundry located in the basement. Other uses in the 19th century included an oyster bar. By the 1930s, the building was used for metal storage/salvage, as evidenced by the large metal shutters at the parlor floor level.

more