A Walking Tour of Brooklyn's Williamsburg Section
By Doug Gelbert
()
About this ebook
There is no better way to see America than on foot. And there is no better way to appreciate what you are looking at than with a walking tour. Whether you are preparing for a road trip or just out to look at your own town in a new way, a downloadable walking tour from walkthetown.com is ready to explore when you are.
Each walking tour describes historical and architectural landmarks and provides pictures to help out when those pesky street addresses are missing. Every tour also includes a quick primer on identifying architectural styles seen on American streets.
This walking tour of the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York illuminates the industrial, commercial and residential experience of one of the city's most colorful streetscapes.
For more than a century after it was settled this enclave was a village called Bushwick Shore. In 1802, real estate specualtor Richard M. Woodhull purchased thirteen acres of land at the foot of today's South 2nd Street and hired Benjamin Franklin's grandnephew, Jonathan Williams, a United States Army engineer to survey his property. He named the proposed village in his honor and established a ferry to New York (then the island of Manhattan). The enterprise went bankrupt in 1811 but the tiny village trundled on and was incorporated into the Town of Bushwick in 1827.
Thomas Morrell and James Hazard picked up where Woodhull had left off. They also established a ferry, this time to the Grand Street Market at Corlear's Hook, providing an outlet for the farmers of Bushwick to sell their produce in New York. The impetus to the area's growth, however, was the establishment of a distillery in 1819. The distillery is gone (as is the Schaefer brewery that followed it on the same site). With a population over 10,000 by 1840 Williamsburg(h) separated from Bushwick and became its own city, organized into three wards.
In 1855 the city lost its independence and its "h" when Williamsburg was annexed into the City of Brooklyn, helping propel Brooklyn to the status of America's third-largest city. Throughout the 19th century Williamsburg was a wealthy industrial enclave. Astral Oil, later swallowed by Standard Oil, was built here. Corning Glass Works was founded here before drifting upstate. German immigrant, chemist Charles Pfizer founded Pfizer Pharmaceutical here. Gilded Age barons Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jim Fisk and William Whitney stayed in elegant resorts on the Williamsburg shoreline.
But nothing had an impact on the community like the opening of the Williamsburg Bridge in 1903. Overnight the tony hotels gave way to an immigrant district absorbing the overflow from New York's Lower East Side (the New York Tribune dubbed the bridge the "The Jews' Highway"). Well-to-do families moved away, and mansions and handsome brownstones from the post-Civil War era fell into disuse or were converted to multiple dwellings.
It wasn't until the 1980s that a hip art crowd found large loft spaces, cheap rent and convenient transportation throughout Williamsburg and kick-started a renaissance that continues into the new century.
Our walking tour will start where so much of the immigrant experience began - at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge...
Read more from Doug Gelbert
Look Up, San Diego! A Walking Tour of Balboa Park Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5A Walking Tour of Miami Beach, Florida Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of Greensboro, North Carolina Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of The New Orleans French Quarter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of Williamsburg, Virginia Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Look Up, Tucson, Arizona! A Walking Tour of Tucson, Arizona Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of Aiken, South Carolina Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of Georgetown, South Carolina Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Look Up, Salem! A Walking Tour of Salem, Oregon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLook Up, Long Beach! A Walking Tour of Long Beach, California Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLook Up, Nashville! A Walking Tour of Nashville, Tennessee Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLook Up, Savannah! A Walking Tour of Savannah, Georgia Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Look Up, Oakland! A Walking Tour of Oakland, California Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of Tampa, Florida Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of Staunton, Virginia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLook Up, Boise! A Walking Tour of Boise, Idaho Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of Jacksonville, Florida Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of New York City's Upper West Side Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Look Up, Phoenix, Arizona! A Walking Tour of Phoenix, Arizona Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of Beaufort, South Carolina Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLook Up, Toledo! A Walking Tour of Toledo, Ohio Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of New York City's Upper East Side Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLook Up, Madison! A Walking Tour of Madison, Wisconsin Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Look Up, Gettysburg! A Walking Tour of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of St. Augustine, Florida Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of Salisbury, North Carolina Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLook Up, Chicago! A Walking Tour of The Loop (North End) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of Wilmington, North Carolina Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of Bordentown, New Jersey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to A Walking Tour of Brooklyn's Williamsburg Section
Related ebooks
A Walking Tour of New York City's Greenwich Village Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of Brooklyn Heights Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of New York City's Upper West Side Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Walking Tour of Wilmington, North Carolina Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMillville Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of Dupont Circle: Center of High Society in the Capital Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIsaac's Beacon: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Devil's Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Jewish South Jersey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Short History of San Francisco Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Dead Wake: by Erik Larson | Includes Analysis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow the Other Half Looks: The Lower East Side and the Afterlives of Images Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReading Claudius Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Words and Music: Confessions of an Optimist Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Mud on the Stars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn a Yellow Wood Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlamingo Road: A Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Awakening Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Tenting On The Plains OR General Custer In Kansas And Texas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe View from the Ground Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tongues of Flame Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stanford White: Decorator in Opulence and Dealer in Antiquities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWilliam and Mary Brickell: Founders of Miami and Fort Lauderdale Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCommon Sense Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJG Farrell: The Making of a Writer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Francoise Frenkel's A Bookshop in Berlin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeep South Dispatch: Memoir of a Civil Rights Journalist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jones Beach Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrommer's EasyGuide to New York City 2018 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
United States Travel For You
The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBirds of Texas Field Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRockhounding & Prospecting: Upper Midwest: How to Find Gold, Copper, Agates, Thomsonite, and Other Favorites Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dark Side of Disney Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Michigan Rocks & Minerals: A Field Guide to the Great Lake State Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHumans of New York: Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fodor's Bucket List USA: From the Epic to the Eccentric, 500+ Ultimate Experiences Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHumans of New York Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fodor’s Alaska Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Witch Queens, Voodoo Spirits, and Hoodoo Saints: A Guide to Magical New Orleans Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lonely Planet Pocket Las Vegas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFodor's Best Road Trips in the USA: 50 Epic Trips Across All 50 States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Magical Power of the Saints: Evocation and Candle Rituals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Huckleberry Finn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fodor's New Orleans Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lake Superior Rocks & Minerals Field Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings50 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One Man's Wilderness, 50th Anniversary Edition: An Alaskan Odyssey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lonely Planet Hawaii the Big Island Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frommer's EasyGuide to New Orleans 2020 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTrees of Michigan Field Guide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Haunted Road Atlas: Sinister Stops, Dangerous Destinations, and True Crime Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lonely Planet Washington, Oregon & the Pacific Northwest Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How To Be Alone: an 800-mile hike on the Arizona Trail Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Forest Walking: Discovering the Trees and Woodlands of North America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Connecticut Witch Trials: The First Panic in the New World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Solace of Open Spaces: Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A Walking Tour of Brooklyn's Williamsburg Section
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
A Walking Tour of Brooklyn's Williamsburg Section - Doug Gelbert
Look Up, Brooklyn! A Walking Tour of Williamsburg
a walking tour in the Look Up, America series from walkthetown.com
by Doug Gelbert
published by Cruden Bay Books at Smashwords
Copyright 2013 by Cruden Bay Books
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Publisher.
For more than a century after it was settled this enclave was a village called Bushwick Shore. In 1802, real estate specualtor Richard M. Woodhull purchased thirteen acres of land at the foot of today’s South 2nd Street and hired Benjamin Franklin’s grandnephew, Jonathan Williams, a United States Army engineer to survey his property. Woodhull named the proposed village in his honor and established a ferry to New York (then the island of Manhattan). The enterprise went bankrupt in 1811 but the tiny village trundled on and was incorporated into the Town of Bushwick in 1827.
Thomas Morrell and James Hazard picked up where Woodhull had left off. They also established a ferry, this time to the Grand Street Market at Corlear’s Hook, providing an outlet for the farmers of Bushwick to sell their produce