|
LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION
DESIGNATES
CAST-IRON BUILDING IN WILLIAMSBURG
“This is a rare cast-iron building in Williamsburg that is remarkably
intact,” said Robert B.
Tierney, Chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. “It is a
treasure to add to our
collection of landmarked buildings in Brooklyn.”
Smith, Gray & Company Building (103 Broadway, Brooklyn)
The Smith, Gray & Co. Building is an early, significantly intact,
cast-iron-fronted store-and-loft building in Brooklyn. The firm was
founded by tailor Edward Smith, who began his business in 1833 in
lower Manhattan and pioneered in the profitable manufacture of
ready-made clothes for children. In 1864, he transferred the
business to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in partnership with Allen
Gray, his brother-in-law. This was their first new structure,
constructed in 1870, at 95 (later 103) Broadway, on Williamsburg’s
then most important commercial street. Henry R. Stiles’ History of
Brooklyn (1884) said of Smith, Gray & Co. “in their specialty of
boys’ and children’s clothing, this house is the largest, as it was the
first, in the United States” and that it was one of the largest
manufacturers of any kind in Brooklyn.
Designed by prominent Brooklyn architect, William H. Gaylor, the
building is five stories high and 25 feet wide. Typical of cast iron
designs in the Second Empire style, the building’s main facade
features tiered upper stories with segmental-arched fenestration
framed by Corinthian columns and pilasters. The building’s
historic wooden storefront still survives.
Today, 103 Broadway remains an important reminder of
Williamsburg’s commercial emergence after the Civil War and of the
nationally-important
clothing manufacturer that was one of Brooklyn’s preeminent 19 th -century
commercial firms.
|
