Building of the Day: 78 Herkimer Street
Brooklyn, one building at a time. Name: former T.P. Wilkinson house, former Irving Club House, former Invincible Hall Address: 78 Herkimer Street, between Nostrand and Bedford Avenues Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant Year Built: perhaps just before 1880 Architectural Style: Queen Anne Architect: Unknown, but looks like Amzi/Henry Hill Landmarked: No The story: I’ve been passing this…
Brooklyn, one building at a time.
Name: former T.P. Wilkinson house, former Irving Club House, former Invincible Hall
Address: 78 Herkimer Street, between Nostrand and Bedford Avenues
Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant
Year Built: perhaps just before 1880
Architectural Style: Queen Anne
Architect: Unknown, but looks like Amzi/Henry Hill
Landmarked: No
The story: I’ve been passing this house for years, and always wondered about it. Up until last year, it was a barely occupied SRO wreck, but now is being rehabbed. It was once a very fine and large mansion. Who lived here, what did they do, and what happened to the house? I’ve only been able to scratch the surface. A Brooklyn Eagle story from 1883 speaks of a man named David Brown living at this address. By 1886, the house belonged to a manufacturer named Thomas P. Wilkerson. He lived here with his wife, Sarah, and family. Sarah died in ’86, the funeral was held in the home. Wilkinson would marry Alice Stanley Boynton a year later, in a ceremony at the house. The family was very active in church and charitable work, and fundraising parties and events took place here, as did meetings with Mrs. Wilkinson’s club, called the Seekers Circle of Kings Daughters. The family lived in the house until at least 1893, and then moved to 1071 Dean St. That year, the Kings County Wheelmen, a local bicycling club (see today’s Walkabout) went into negotiations to buy the house for use as a clubhouse. The deal fell through, as the property was not seen as large enough, and another local club, the Irving Club, successfully negotiated to buy the building, and moved in June, 1895. An Eagle article described the house as having spacious piazzas front and rear with large bay windows on both sides. The interior throughout is handsomely finished with mahogany wainscoting. The ceilings are frescoed with excellent taste.
The Irving Club stayed here until they dissolved their club in 1899, to avoid bankruptcy. They sold the house to the Invincible Club, a local Republican political club, who bought the building in 1901. The Invincible Club added an addition to the house, and renamed it Invincible Hall. They hosted political rallies and fundraisers, and rented the hall out here for over 30 years. By 1921, the building was the 17th Assembly District Republican Clubhouse, as reported in the NY Times, and that name seems to be interchangeable with Invincible Hall until the last entry in the Times in 1934. There, the trail grows cold. I don’t know if or when it became apartments, and then further subdivided into rooms. City records list the building as last having 26 units. The tax photo from the 1970’s shows the house still with many of its original windows. It will be good to see this great building housing people once again.
(Photo: Property Shark)
A walk down Decatur Street, fore to aft, will do any Manhattanite a world of good.
c
Those 36-over-1 windows are still there in the 1980s tax photo!
GA – like MM, I mainly use NYPL for maps, but will check out Ward Maps.
And MM, you took 28 Broadway from me. Not sure what I think of Chris spending so much time in Brooklyn…
I’m sorry, Mr. Gray. You should have your people call my people. I’m sure you got way more info than I did, and will write a bang up column. I bet you know what happens after 1934, too.
I have to admit, I’m chortling a wee bit, as I had planned a story on George Ingram and his Brooklyn precinct buildings, had all my notes and ducks in a row, and that very Sat. I saw your Streetscape piece on him. I was screaming, “Damn you, Christopher Gray!!!!!” at my computer. So. There. 🙂
Excellent post (once again)! Herkimer was a big town once upon a time. Brooklyn named her new streets after the big NYS towns. This is a gorgeous old relic of a house. Let’s hope her rebirth is deserving of her birthright.
PS The NB application is published in RERG of September of 1880, page 823. A search for “T. P. Wilkinson” pulled up only one hit in the 1880-1889 decade. That’s how we found it.
PPS The 1940 tax photo does have a nice Vote for Willkie placard outside, and original 36-over-1 (no kidding) windows intact, so maybe I’ll use it some way after all. But still.
Hey!!! After six months, I finally gave up searching for an old photo for this building, and only yesterday surrendered to the fuzzy 1940 tax photo for a May story – just ordered it. And now you come along and write about the darned thing!
Plus there was another one like that a month or two ago. I really do wish you would clear your subjects with me in advance, it would be so much more efficient.
Cancel my subscription! Hey, cancel Benson’s subscription, too!!
Christopher
No Book, No Peace. Thank you MM.
Thanks, GA. I’ve been using the NYPL, but will certainly try Wards. Hopefully the pix are larger and easier to zoom in on.
I suspect you guys (Montrose and WBer) already have a source, but wanted to let other folks know there’s a company called Ward Maps who sell very cool reproductions of 19th century block-and-lot maps including the Bromley & Robinson 1880 maps of Brooklyn. The originals are getting harder and harder to find. You can specify the area you want reproduced (where the maps exist, taht is) and they offer 4 sizes. I bought one showing our house and our neighbors love looking at it! But for research purposes, it’s all there on their site if you want to just look.