Building of the Day: 1301 Grand Street

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Charles J. King Iron and Scrap, formerly Louis Bossert & Son Co.
Address: 1301 Grand Street
Cross Streets: Gardner Avenue and New Town Creek
Neighborhood: Bushwick
Year Built: Unknown
Architectural Style: Eclectic factory
Architect: Unknown
Landmarked: No

The story: Louis Bossert was a lumber man. He was one of the thousands of German immigrants who came to the United States and settled in Bushwick and Williamsburg in the mid to late 19th century. Bossert was an officer during the Civil War, and began a lumber business after the war. It was a fortuitous move, as Brooklyn had a series of building booms for the next fifty years, and Louis Bossert & Son was there to meet the needs of their customers.

By the end of the 19th century, in the 1890s, if not sooner, Louis Bossert’s lumber company was located here on Grand Street, along the Newtown Creek. The company was huge, with lumberyards, planing mills, warehouses and offices. Having the canal just behind the plant enabled Bossert to move goods by barge, and deliver large amounts of lumber to projects in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn with ease. This building was the headquarters and office of the company.

Lumber yards often had fires, so this may be the reason the Bossert HQ looks like a fireproof fortress. I was not able to find the date it was built, or the architect, and since the design is so eclectic, it’s also hard to date, but I’m going to go with early 20th century, in the ‘teens. By that time, Bossert’s plant was well established, and this building consolidated their operation, and replaced the company’s offices on Union Street. It’s an interesting building, certainly not pretty, but strong in personality.

Bossert, by this time, was extremely wealthy. By the end of the previous century, he was well known as a yachtsman and was also a bank director, and dabbled in real estate, and was a proud member of the Arion Singing Society in Bushwick. His fine house on Bushwick Avenue would soon be replaced by a very expensive mansion on Long Island. Ironically, one of the yachts that super-wealthy, first generation German immigrant Charles Bossert owned was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by the Germans during World War I. He and the crew were rescued with no loss of life. The ship sank to the bottom of the sea.

By World War I too, his son, Charles was slowly taking over the firm’s operations, and he had some new ideas. In addition to the raw materials the company sold, he introduced pre-fabricated window frames, shutters and other house components. The company made skylights, stairs, built-ins and entire storefronts here at the factory. He also began investing heavily in real estate development. The Bossert Hotel on Montague Street was built in 1909 as one of these projects.

Charles had this huge lumber yard here on the Creek, with lots of room, and began building pre-fabricated houses that were then shipped to developments on Long Island and in Queens. He had two such developments; “Treasureland Homes” a 2000 house development in Auburndale, LI, and “Marathon Homes” a development in Bayside West, Queens. These were both built in the late 1920s, and Bossert’s offered potential buyers a ride to the sites in special buses that left from this building.

Louis Bossert & Son operated at this location until at least 1933. No doubt the Depression took its toll, as house construction and sales slowed down, and they were probably overextended. The next company that shows 1301 Grand Street as its offices is the Buffalo Coal Company. There are mentions in the papers at this location in 1933 and 1936. The latter year saw a man rescued by firefighters after he was buried by 300 tons of coal.

In 1943 until at least 1944, the building was a wool company, the Hairston Wool Stock Company. They ran an advertisement looking for stenographers and telephone operators, among other office jobs for women. They also had a rally in 1943 for War Bonds. The trail then grows cold for a while.

The building has been the home of Charles J. King Iron and Steel, scrap metal and metal waste dealers for quite a while. The vast lumberyards and other factory buildings built by Bossert seem to have been reincarnated across the street by the Feldman Lumber Company. It’s still very industrial out here, far from “hip and happening” Bushwick and Williamsburg, with open spaces and the sound of fork lifts and pickup trucks. Most people will never see this building other than as a photograph. But it’s here, a forgotten part of Brooklyn’s industrial heritage. GMAP

(Photo: Google Maps)