POTW: Turrets Long Gone

Dee

Black and white photograph of an elaborate church building on a street corner
Sand Street Memorial Church, Henry and Clark Sts. Cradle of Brooklyn Methodism, circa 1900; black and white photographic print, CHUR_507; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, BCMS.0002, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.

 

 

Today's Photo of the Week spotlights a long-gone church building that once stood at Clark and Henry Streets in Brooklyn Heights. Despite having grown up in this neighborhood and walked by this corner countless times, I had no idea that what is currently a boxy apartment building with the local favorite Clark's Diner on its ground floor was once this elaborate confection of a church with turrets, arches, and adornments galore. Designed by John Welch, this church came to Brooklyn Heights from nearby Sands Street in 1889. It was torn down in 1947. That means it only just made its way into the city's 1940s tax photographs, which is how I stumbled across it. It just goes to show, there's always more local history to be learned.

Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal of Brooklyn Public Library. We welcome appointments to research our entire collection of images, archives, maps and special collections. Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.

 

This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.

 

dbowers

I wasn't able to determine exactly where the congregation moved when the building was demolished, but I did find that according to our Methodist Churches of Brooklyn collection (1986.027), "As church membership grew during the early-to-mid 19th century, members left to form new Methodist churches including the African Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal Church (incorporated in 1818), the Yellow Hook Church (later the Bay Ridge Church), and the York Street Church (also in DUMBO). The African Wesleyan M.E.C. was the first black Methodist congregation established in Brooklyn."
Wed, Jul 17 2024 8:43 pm Permalink

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