Williamsburg, Brooklyn

In 1855, the City of Williamsburgh, along with the adjoining Town of Bushwick, were annexed into the City of Brooklyn as the so-called Eastern District. During its period as part of Brooklyn's Eastern District, the area achieved remarkable industrial, cultural, and economic growth, and local businesses thrived. Wealthy New Yorkers such as Cornelius Vanderbilt and railroad magnate Jim Fisk built shore-side mansions. Charles Pratt and his family founded the Pratt Institute, the great school of art & architecture, and the Astral Oil Works, which later became part of Standard Oil. Corning Glass Works was founded here. German immigrant, chemist Charles Pfizer founded Pfizer Pharmaceutical in Williamsburgh. Brooklyn's Broadway, ending in the ferry to Manhattan, became the area's lifeline. According to Wikipedia, at one point in the 19th century, Williamsburg possessed 10 percent of the wealth of the United States and was the engine of American growth.

There are lots of interesting sites in Williamsburg. South of the bridge the neighborhood is uncannily 100% Hasidic. North is yuppified. One of the most interesting edifices is the massive Domino Sugar factory, on the water. This was orginally Havemeyer and Elder's Sugar Refining Co. (1890). Brooklyn was the sugar-refining capital of the U.S.

Hasidic schools now occupy the 2nd oldest synagogue in Brooklyn ((1876) and the Eastern District High School on Marcy Ave. This is a spectacular building. Famous alum include Henry Miller, Barry Manilow, and Mel Brooks. Nearby on Division St. is the Brooklyn Public Library (1905), note the misspelling of Willamsburg"h" above the door.