August'1, 1914





RECORD  AND  GUIDE





175





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I     BREWERY   COLONY  IN   KIPS BAY   DISTRICT





Acquisition   of Large Waterfront Plot by the Schaeter Brewing
Company Adds Another Concern to the Old-Established Center





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p. OR more than half a century there
r* has been a brewery colony in
the Kips Bay section of the city, east of
Third avenue, between 40th and 60th
streets. That it is still desirable for such
purposes is evident, by the fact that the
F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Company, one
of the earliest of the brewer settlers in
the district, intends to erect a large plant
along the East River, from Slst to 52d
streets, having sold its Park avenue
property  to  St.   Bartholomew's   Church.

There are within the radius of one mile
probably more breweries than in any
other section of the city.    ■^-  ■'            *"'-

large companies,
including those of
George Ehret,
Jacob Ruppert and
George Ringler,
own brewery
plants, but their
number and collec¬
tive size is not as
large as that of the
group in Kips Bay
district.

The tendency of
allied businesses to
create centers oi"
their own has been
a noteworthy char¬
acteristic of New
York's commercial
development, and
the brewing indus¬
try is no exception
to this rule. The
reasons for the
selection of this
particular section
of the city are not
difficult to deter¬
mine. The entire
river-front, or in
the vicinity to the
river-front, is most
desirable    for    the

brewing business, because the salt water
is needed for the ice machines and for
the condensers used in the manufacture
of beer. Another advantage is the
shorter haul for coal and other supplies
from the barges. If the concerns were
located some distance from the water¬
front it would involve not only addi¬
tional expense but also delay in- de¬
livery.

The Central Park Brewing Company
occupies the major portion of the block
bounded by the East River,
Avenue A, 56th and 57th
streets. Peter Doelger's
buildings take up practical¬
ly the entire block bounded
by Avenue A, First avenue
S5th and 56th streets. Peter
Doelger died in December,
1912, the owner of nearly
three hundred parcels of
svell located real estate.

The Consumers' Brewing
Company of New York is
situated on the west side of
Avenue A, from 55th to
54th streets; and further
west on the same block
most of the property is oc¬
cupied by the Henrv Elias
Brewing Corhpany. Nearer
Third avenue are the plants
of the Jetter Brewing Com¬
pany, and of Joseph Dod¬
ger's Sons. The latter firm
has been established in business on that
block since 1846. Just east is the large
establishment of Jacob Hoffmann.

Farther south, at Second avenue and
47th street, are the Henry Clausen Brew¬





ing Company and the Phoenix Brewing
holdings. In the next block is located the
Opperman Brewing Company and just
south the United States Brewing Com¬
pany. With this number of similar manu¬
facturing concerns grouped together, it
was inevitable that kindred business
would also become established in the
immediate vicinity, such as the ice plants,
malt and other supply companies.

Typical of all water-front sections, the
Kips Bay district houses a number of
factories, coal pockets, stone yards, etc.,
with no particular class of industry con¬
spicuous, except the breweries. There are
to be found also rows of tenements and





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MAP OF PAHT OF KIPS BAY SECTION.

in direct contrast, here and there, a row
of pretty brownstone residences. With
this mixture of business and residential
properties Kips Bay presents a number of
interesting studies. For its social and
moral uplift there was recently organ¬
ized the Kips Bay Neighborhood Assoti-
ation, Charles C. Burlingham, president.
Other similar social service associa¬
tions include the Kips Bay Branch of
the Charity Organization Society and
the     Children's    Aid     Society.       Public





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tions of the district religious and educa¬
tional institutions are not lacking. One
of the most imposing ecclesiastical edi¬
fices in this city, the Roman Catholic
Church of St. John the Evangelist, oc¬
cupies with its school, the entire block
front on the west side of First avenue,
from 55th to 56th street. Further west
is the German Evangelist Church and
in East 57th street, near First avenue,
is a Jewish synagogue. Other religious
institutions include the St. Boniface Ro¬
man Catholic Church, at the corner of
Second avenue and 47th street, and the
Beekman Hill Church, in East 50th
street. In East 44th street, ne,ar Third
avenue, and ex¬
tending through to
43d street, is the
Roman Catholic
Church and school
of St. Agnes.

Here, in 1663, lay
the  farm   of  Jaco¬
bus Kip, then sec¬
retary of the prov-
i n c e ,   comprising
about  150 acres of
meadow, woodland
and stream.    Four¬
teen years later Sir
Edmund       Andros
granted    to    David
Duffor   a   tract   of
nearly 60 acres on
the    shore   of   the
East    River    from
41st street to 48th
street.       On     this
farm,    in    addition
LO other buildings,
was erected a grist
mill,   the   first   in¬
dustrial       develop¬
ment   in  what was
destined    to    be    a
___________________   center   of  a   brew¬
ing and other man¬
ufacturing district.
Just   west   of   First   avenue,   between
Slst and 52nd streets, stood  the famous
mansion   and   country   seat   of   William
Beekman.     In   the   green   house  of   this
dwelling    Nathan    Hale    was    confined,
while the  British officers  deliberated on
his fate.    It served also during a period
of the  Revolutionary  War as the  head¬
quarters    of    the    English    commanding
generals,  Howe and  Clinton.

Hemmed in among the tenements, and
in  several  instances  outbuildings of the
breweries,    may    be    found





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Amer/can
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rL.ui   uvVNuJiJ  HX   SCHABFclR  BKEWlNG   CO.

schools include No. 27, in East 41st
street, No. 73, in East 46th street. No.
135, in East Slst street, and No. 59, in
East 57th street.

For the benefit of th«2  residential sec-





some of the old Dutch Co¬
lonial residences, typical of
the period. They may still
be recognized in their
strange surroundings by
their solid masonry and
quaint old fashioned con¬
struction. They are the
last of the landmarks of
Dutch occupancy of Kips
Bay, long before the farm
lands were invaded by the
incoming tide of immigra¬
tion. This brought with it
industrial concerns and
congested home communi¬
ties. What stands out most
conspicuously, however, in
k^              the   Kips   Bay   district  and

makes it an interesting
unit in the chain of New
York industrial trade cen¬
ters, is the brewery colony
which is evidently there to stay, while
other business centers shift constantly.
The district is ohe, however, which will
not be aflfected directly by the projected
rapid transit lines.