Bushwick, Brooklyn
History:
- The areas now called Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Bushwick were originally one Dutch settlement, the Town of Bushwick. The land was purchased from the Canarsie Indians in 1638 and officially chartered by Governor Peter Stuyvesant in 1660. He also gave it the name of Boswyck meaning refuge or town in the woods.
- Bushwick was for a long time a jointly owned woodland used for grazing animals and gathering firewood. The road to the woods ran parallel to today’s Bushwick Avenue.
- Bushwick High School at 400 Irving Avenue was opened in 1913 and counts among its former students, Joseph Hirshorn and Irving Thalberg. The few large apartment houses were a product of the 1920’s. From then on no new housing was built in Bushwick in any quantity until the 1980’s.
- Between the wars was Bushwick’s period of greatest affluence. Streets were spotlessly clean, homes beautifully maintained. It was a popular entertainment district.
- By the time of the Blackout on July 13, 1977, Bushwick was in far worse condition that it had been in 1969. On that fateful night and the following days, hundreds of Bushwick stores were looted, many were destroyed permanently and fires burned everywhere.
Landmarks:
- The Catherina Lipsius House, commonly known as the Spooky Mansion. The house was built in 1890 during Bushwick’s golden era as a rich brewery town, and has been home to many notable residents.
- The Ridgewood Masonic Temple. The Ridgewood Masonic Temple is one of a few important social organizations that existed in the Bushwick neighborhood and is a highly significant building within the context of the study area due to its unique architectural character and its strong cultural and historic associations.The building was designed by the Brooklyn architectural firm of Koch & Wagner. Arthur R. Koch (1874-1952) and Charles C. Wagner (1876-1957) had formed a partnership in 1910 which they maintained until 1951.
- Vander Ende-Onderdonk House. It is the oldest Dutch Colonial stone house in New York City. This is actually considered in Ridgewood, Queens because it became the marker of the city line.
- Peter Paul Huberty Mansion. Built in 1900 the Colonial Style home was designed by Ulrich J. Huberty, with later alterations by L.M. Kaufman.
Art:
- The Bushwick Collective. Non profit outdoor street gallery of Artists from all over the world, Founded in May of 2012. The outdoor street gallery known as the Bushwick Collective, which begins on Jefferson Street and continues on Troutman Street towards Saint Nicholas Avenue is a composition of legal graffiti covering the walls of the area. The accidental curator of the collective is Joseph Ficalora, a Native of Bushwick and Brooklyn.
- Arts in Bushwick says of their mission, “Arts In Bushwick is an all-volunteer, non-hierarchical organization – we have a completely open structure, where anyone in the community who is willing to volunteer their time is welcome to join with us and take on a leadership role. Dozens of community members volunteer their time as organizers for each of our festivals and year-round, and many many more pitch in during our events.”
