Building of the Day: 47-61 Greenpoint Avenue

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Former Eberhard Faber pencil factory
Address: 47-61 Greenpoint Avenue
Cross Streets: Franklin and West Streets
Neighborhood: Greenpoint
Year Built: 1923-24
Architectural Style: Art Deco
Architect: Frederick H. Klie
Other Buildings by Architect: an Art Deco garage on Bleeker St. in NoHo HD.
Landmarked: Yes, part of Eberhard-Faber HD (2007)

The story: This building is the last of the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company’s factories in their complex in Greenpoint. The company was started by German immigrant Eberhard Faber in 1861, and moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn in 1872, after a huge fire. The plant was in operation until 1956, growing to become one of Brooklyn’s most important factories, employing hundreds of people, mostly women. Faber is credited for bringing German pencil making techniques to American, changing the way the simple pencil was constructed, a change that is still as popular today as over a hundred years ago. Faber himself invented the eraser at the end of the pencil, one of those under-appreciated genius inventions that we use every day.

John Eberhard Faber, the son of the founder, took over the company in 1879. He had an engineering degree from Columbia, and under his leadership, the company grew tremendously, and introduced some of its most iconic products, including the colored tip Mongol pencils, the most popular colored pencils on earth, as well as enameled wood pencils and pencil sets. Faber bought forests in Florida to use for his wood, and had factories there, as well as in other states. The Brooklyn factory also made office accessories and eyebrow and eyeliner pencils.

This building was the last to be built, in 1923-24, of a much large 2 block, six building complex. It is the largest building in the group, and regarded as the signature building in the complex. It’s an Art Deco style reinforced concrete factory, with terra-cotta trim in the Eberhard Faber star and diamond logo, and has those great gigantic tile pencils on the façade, a great form of advertising and pride. The architect, Frederick Klie, practiced from around 1920 to the 1940’s, and this seems to be one of his earlier commissions. Unfortunately, little else is known about him.

After World War II, much of Greenpoint’s manufacturing closed up, including the pencil plant. They moved to Pennsylvania and sold the buildings in 1956. Eberhard Faber became part of the A.W. Faber-Castell Corporation. The factory and warehouse buildings were used for various commercial purposes, and this one is currently home to several commercial businesses. The entire complex was landmarked in 2007. GMAP