60-64 Washington Ave, SSpellen 1

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Former Van Glahn factory and warehouse buildings
Address: 60-64 Washington Avenue
Cross Streets: Park and Flushing Avenues
Neighborhood: Wallabout
Year Built: 1892
Architectural Style: Romanesque Revival
Architect: John G. Glover
Other Buildings by Architect: other Van Glahn factory/warehouse buildings on this block, also Van Glahn homes at 229-231 Washington Ave. Row houses, tenements and factories in several Brooklyn neighborhoods.
Landmarked: No, but listed on Rookwood Chocolate Factory Historic District (1984). Also on proposed State and National Registers of Historic Places, Wallabout Industrial District. Also proposed LPC Wallabout Industrial District.

The story: Wallabout is one of my favorite Brooklyn neighborhoods. I never get tired of walking around there, for a number of reasons. I really like industrial buildings of a certain era, first of all, and I find the mix of industry and residence in a neighborhood fascinating from view of how the society developed and how it shaped the neighborhood, and the greater city’s history. The Brooklyn of today is literally built on the past, and buildings are the most tangible legacy of that past.

It’s remarkable how some of the products that flourished in Wallabout during the late 19th and early 20th century still are with us today; Drake’s Cakes and Tootsie Rolls, for instance. Wallabout was best known for its grocery and foodstuff businesses. The Wallabout Market, a huge wholesale meat and produce market, similar to Hunt’s Point Market, was located here, on grounds now part of the Navy Yard property. The market attracted all kinds of similar businesses, and by the end of the 19th century, was home to bakeries, candy factories, and many wholesale grocers and producers.

These merchants gathered in large quantities of raw materials, and then packaged them for resale, as well as used them in producing other products. They needed a lot of space, and Wallabout was perfect. The Van Glahn Brothers Wholesale Grocery Company was one of the largest of these companies in Wallabout. John and Henry Van Glahn were German immigrants who, like many other Germans, went into the grocery business. Their company repackaged raw materials like sugar and beans, and also produced canned goods and other processed foods.

The brothers had several warehouses on this block. In 1890, they commissioned Glover to design the large building on the corner of Park and Washington that served as their headquarters. The Van Glahn name can still be seen on the building. Two years later, the business had grown even more, and Glover was back to design these three buildings. They replaced three row houses that had been here previously, which explains in part why they are on 20 foot lots.

By 1904, the Van Glahns had leased their headquarters and other large factory buildings to the Rookwood Chocolate Company. It’s not clear if the Van Glahn brothers originally intended for these buildings to be their warehouse/retail space, or if they built them as an investment and then rented or sold them to smaller companies. At any rates, that’s what happened to them only a few years later.

In 1907, 60 Washington was owned and occupied by A.W. & W. Bohn, dealers in coffee and spices. That year, a serious fire almost took out this entire block. Most of the businesses affected were in the food industry. Bohn suffered damage in the fire, but not as much as some, and they had insurance. A year later, it was home to a paint company called H.M. Johnston Mfg. Company. They were going bankrupt, and all of their goods and equipment was being auctioned off here. They could have been here the same time the spice company also in the building.

In 1910, the papers announced that Van Glahn Brothers was taking over Alsgood, Rasch & Co. which was now headquartered at 60 Washington. They had moved there after their previous place of business on Sand Street was taken for the building of the Manhattan Bridge. They had started business about the same time the Van Glahn Brothers did.

Finally, at this address, in 1911, federal marshals seized almost 7,000 cans of crushed tomatoes from this location. They were to be used in making soup. The cans were part of larger shipments from two different companies in Maryland that were determined to be tainted. The company in this location at the time was Maxwell Brothers. The other buildings had similar tenants, but no dramatic stories.

The buildings were designed with loading docks on the ground floor, with two stories of warehouse space above. Now, instead of wholesale grocers and coffee sellers, the buildings now house people as well as businesses. A wine and liquor store is on the ground floor of 64 Washington, and more such commerce will probably replace whatever is going on in the other two, as well, sooner or later. These are beautiful buildings, it’s great that they are still in use. This is one of Wallabout’s most interesting industrial streets.

(Photograph:S.Spellen)

GMAP

Photo: S.Spellen
Photo: S.Spellen

What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. Hi, I’m very glad I found this blog today.
    I love this area too, it is still less gentrified and quiet probably because far from subway (and it is G train..).
    Do you know anything about big industrial complex on entire block of Hall street between Park Ave and Flushing Ave? I work in one of it’s building 47 Hall street and I love this building.
    Let me know if you know anything.