Layers of History in Bedford Stuyvesant
How awesome was the City section story this weekend about the couple who bought an old woodframe house on Franklin Avenue in Bed Stuy a couple of years ago only to discover an old tunnel whose contents ended up being a layered time capsule of historic eras, from the crack vials of the 1980s to…
How awesome was the City section story this weekend about the couple who bought an old woodframe house on Franklin Avenue in Bed Stuy a couple of years ago only to discover an old tunnel whose contents ended up being a layered time capsule of historic eras, from the crack vials of the 1980s to pantyhose from the 1970s to the old liquor bottle from when the tunnel was likely built. At the very bottom of the heap was an old cast-iron horse from the 1870s. On top of that, it turns out the mansard-roofed abode was notorious back in the day for being both a house of prostitution and the home of Hugo Tollner of the “Gage & Tollner” Tollners.
The House of Much History [NY Times]
So true and well said. I get very sad looking at old photos. Silly me.
That article was beautiful, in a haunting sort of way. But then, I’m nostalgic for everything. How many people have passed through the spaces we live in? What did the land look like before we were here? What will we leave behind when we’re gone? Whatever happened to the girl playing with that doll, or the horse? It really puts things into perspective…our lives are very small in the grand scheme of things.
was that doll creepy or what?
pure adams family -or rosemary’s baby!!!!
Fire escape?
Something for directing hot air, cold air, or sound? If it’s a secret passageway, why end it at the rear of the house where the back door is anyway? Unless someone was moving goods or money or people in and out and didn’t want the other occupants of the house to notice?
Bat farm? The world’s first indoor air conditioning system (ice cooled)?
Sorry — computer snafu.
I just re-read the original post and the NYT story.
http://bstoner.wpengine.com/forum/archives/2009/01/mysterious_tunn.php
Author says the tunnel probably (but not certainly) dates to when the house was built (or earlier) based on the garbage they found there.
Is the tunnel in the sub-basement, or below it? The chute suggests it was used to load goods directly into the cellar, or to permit people to exit out of the cellar directly. (The exit though is more or less in the same area as a back door, so not really hidden.) The tunnel does suggest hidden storage. Could the shape have something to do with hiding something or someone behind a bend, blocking light, making the volume of the tunnel less appparent from outside, or going around something already in the cellar?
The cellar might have been cool in the 1860s since they probably didn’t have a furnace until later. Ice storage? Incinerator?
I thought people moved to the city to get away from all that manure stuff.
OK, serpentor. What shall we call it? Brooklyn Manure Society?