Building of the Day: 67 Putnam Avenue

The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy.

Address: 67 Putnam Avenue, between Irving Place and Classon Avenue
Name: Originally the Lincoln Club, now Independent Order of Mechanics of the Western Hemisphere
Neighborhood: Clinton Hill
Year Built: 1889
Architectural Style: Queen Anne
Architect: Rudolph Daus
Landmarked: Yes (Individual landmark, 1981)

The Lincoln Club was founded in 1878 by prominant Clinton Hill residents for the purposing of having a social club, and to promote Republican causes. By the time this building was built, they had ceased to be a political club, and were, like other clubs such as the Montauk, a social outlet for upscale men in the neighborhood.

It originally had bowling alleys in the basement, and other club rooms for meetings, meals and activities. Daus was a well respected architect, having designed, among other builldings, the 13th Regiment Armory on Sumner Avenue in nearby Bedford Stuyvesant.

This is regarded as one of his finest buildings, and is an exemplary example of urban Queen Anne architecture, with multiple materials used; brownstone, terra cotta, brick, and stained glass, along with the multitude of features; turrets and tower, gables, oriels, columns, parapets, fanciful windows and a multitude of wonderful terra-cotta ornament, including dragons, floral bands, and the organization’s crest and date of the building.

The Club disbanded in 1931, and the building passed to the Independent Order of Mechanics, a Masonic organization, in the 1940’s. A paint job has obscured the colors in the original materials, and there have been some other minor alterations, but the building remains pretty much intact, and is a visual treat on Putnam Avenue.

[Photos by Suzanne Spellen]