Building of the Day: 78 Herkimer Street

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: former T.P. Wilkinson house, former Irving Club House, former Invincible Hall
Address: 78 Herkimer Street, between Nostrand and Bedford Avenues
Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant
Year Built: perhaps just before 1880
Architectural Style: Queen Anne
Architect: Unknown, but looks like Amzi/Henry Hill
Landmarked: No

The story: I’ve been passing this house for years, and always wondered about it. Up until last year, it was a barely occupied SRO wreck, but now is being rehabbed. It was once a very fine and large mansion. Who lived here, what did they do, and what happened to the house? I’ve only been able to scratch the surface. A Brooklyn Eagle story from 1883 speaks of a man named David Brown living at this address. By 1886, the house belonged to a manufacturer named Thomas P. Wilkerson. He lived here with his wife, Sarah, and family. Sarah died in ’86, the funeral was held in the home. Wilkinson would marry Alice Stanley Boynton a year later, in a ceremony at the house. The family was very active in church and charitable work, and fundraising parties and events took place here, as did meetings with Mrs. Wilkinson’s club, called the Seekers Circle of Kings Daughters. The family lived in the house until at least 1893, and then moved to 1071 Dean St. That year, the Kings County Wheelmen, a local bicycling club (see today’s Walkabout) went into negotiations to buy the house for use as a clubhouse. The deal fell through, as the property was not seen as large enough, and another local club, the Irving Club, successfully negotiated to buy the building, and moved in June, 1895. An Eagle article described the house as having spacious piazzas front and rear with large bay windows on both sides. The interior throughout is handsomely finished with mahogany wainscoting. The ceilings are frescoed with excellent taste.

The Irving Club stayed here until they dissolved their club in 1899, to avoid bankruptcy. They sold the house to the Invincible Club, a local Republican political club, who bought the building in 1901. The Invincible Club added an addition to the house, and renamed it Invincible Hall. They hosted political rallies and fundraisers, and rented the hall out here for over 30 years. By 1921, the building was the 17th Assembly District Republican Clubhouse, as reported in the NY Times, and that name seems to be interchangeable with Invincible Hall until the last entry in the Times in 1934. There, the trail grows cold. I don’t know if or when it became apartments, and then further subdivided into rooms. City records list the building as last having 26 units. The tax photo from the 1970’s shows the house still with many of its original windows. It will be good to see this great building housing people once again.

(Photo: Property Shark)