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)
I saw that, WBer. That’s great, they are excellent buildings, and there are so many more that need to be protected. In Williamsburg, it seems it will have to be done one at a time.
Could you please email me at montrosemorris@yahoo.com? I need some advice.
A good amount of luck, actually. Based on the Bromley and your reference to Wilkerson, I figured this was 1880 to 1883, and when I looked in the index for 1880 this was the first one that came up. The address was listed as 320 Herkimer, but the description (250′ west of Nostrand) confirmed it.
To complete the circle, St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran was landmarked today.
Cady! Wber, very cool! I’m also glad the house was built for Wilkinson, it adds a more personal touch.
Must have been young Cady. His New York Methodist Episcopal Church on Dean and NY Ave in Crown Heights North is a masterpiece. I like the Wmbg church too, very similar. He also designed the old Metropolitan Opera House, and one wing of the Museum of Natural History, the one that faces 77th St. He is a major talent.
WBer, how do you find these things? I pour through the Builder’s Guide, putting in the street, or a range of dates, through the search function, and it seems to be hit or miss. I’ve been going through them issue by issue looking for specifics in Crown Heights, for our landmarking,but that takes time, patience, and a good set of reading glasses. Any tips for finding individual addresses?
Project Greenlight: “Invincible Hall,” an HBO series that follows the human dramas inside the house, from the widowered and quickly remarried Mr. Wilkerson, to the fin de siecle GOP clubmen, through its Bed-Stuy-Do-or-Die near-death days, to …?
1880 – J. C. Cady (!) was the architect, and it was built for Wilkerson. The builders were W & T Lamb, who were particularly active in the Eastern District (and I think might have the builders of St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church, which Cady designed in 1884 – more here: http://noveltytheater.net/2010/09/saint-paul-lutheran/ ).
According to the Bromley map, there was a frame building on that site in 1880.
Beautiful house, even in its current state.
Looks like they filled in the original front door in that tax photo – maybe to add baths, as there are two tiny windows there instead. Nice to see the door reopened. I suppose the state of the windows means all the woodwork is gone now.
wow, nice looking building. thanks for the history MM.
26 apts? Well glad to see it’s being rehabbed. Going to take lots of love and money.