N O . 6 1    P O P L A R    S T R E E T .



The Brooklyn Newsboys' Lodging House history site.


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This page is an offshoot of No. 9 Duane Street, with a focus on the Brooklyn Newsboys' Lodging House (circa the 1899 Newsboys' Strike).

If you're interested in the Manhattan lodging house(s), please see No. 9.

The same disclaimer applies here.

U P D A T E S :

Oct. 9, 2007.
"Images": 6 new screencaps from Google Maps' "Street View."
Oct. 8, 2007.
"Images": More info about the screencap from Google Earth plus a new image with a corrected outline.
Mar. 10, 2007.
"Images": BCAS clothing donation ad.
Mar. 1, 2007.
"Images": Brooklyn LH, via Google Earth.
Oct. 18, 2006:
"Layout": Added!
"Images": Added!
Also added: Procedure for spending the night.
Aug. 21, 2006:
Grand Opening.







General info.

The Brooklyn Newsboys' LH was set up and run very much like the CAS's lodging houses in Manhattan. This meant an affordable bed and meals, wash-rooms, a gymnasium, a school within the building, a superintendent, and so forth.

Aside from it being known as the Newsboys' LH or Newsboys' Home, a 1899 article refers to it as the Children's Home, and articles in 1900 and 1902 refer to it as the Working Boys' Home.



Where was it located?

The building is on the north side of Poplar Street, slightly west of center of the block bounded by Henry and Hicks Streets. It lies two blocks south of the approach to the Brooklyn Bridge; the area is known as Brooklyn Heights.

The official address was 61 Poplar Street, Brooklyn.



When did it open its doors?

Jan. 14, 1884.



Who ran it?

Brooklyn had its own Children's Aid Society, modeled upon but operating separately from the CAS in Manhattan. It got its start in 1866, about a decade after Rev. Brace's CAS was formed.



General building details.

The building has four stories, plus a high basement/cellar. This includes an attic.

It is built of red brick, with a front of "Ohio stone trimmings." The building measures 57 feet across by 94 feet deep. It has a mansard roof, numerous tall thin windows, and steps leading up to its front door. Doors and window-frames were of light hardwoods.



Layout of the building.

See "Layout" page.



What was the procedure for spending the night?

This was much the same as with the DSLH. Boys had to first register with the Supt. before they could get a bed or a meal.

The LH's Poplar St. entrance was meant to be used by staff or visitors. The boys themselves had to enter the building through a door on the alley side (probably the building's east side). This door opened onto a landing, from which stairs led directly to the Supt.'s office.



What became of the building?

It still stands!

In early 1902, when it was still a LH, some improvements were made to the building. (I have no details on what specifically was done, nor even to what extent.) I am not sure when the CAS stopped using it as a lodging house.

By 1911, it had been turned into studio apartments. By the 1960's, it was being used as machine shop, and then was apparently abandoned.

In 1987, the building was restored and converted, along with a number of other similar buildings in the area, into high-end condos. The address had by then become 55 Poplar Street, even though the building itself remained right where it was. Today, it is still No. 55, and the condos are still in use, and still very expensive.



Images.

See "Images" page.



The first LH.

The Brooklyn LH that existed in 1899 was actually a replacement for the first LH, which over the years had gotten too small to accommodate the boys who stayed there and the children who attended its school. The old building was torn down, and the new LH built on the same site.

The original LH was opened Sep. 1, 1866. At the time, the address was known as 69 Poplar Street. It was a squarish three-story building. In 1868 it annexed the adjoining building, 65 Poplar, for more space. By 1882 plans had already been laid to replace the LH with a larger structure.



What about other LHs in Brooklyn in 1899?

As in Manhattan, the Brooklyn CAS was not the only organization setting up lodging houses for street-waifs.

The St. Vincent's Home for Boys, popularly referred to as the newsboys' home, was located at 7 Poplar Street. It was established in 1869 by the St. Vincent de Paul's Society. Not to be confused with the St. Vincent's Home for newsboys opened by Fr. Drumgoole in Manhattan, the St. Vincent's LH in Brooklyn came one year earlier. What both St. Vincent's did have in common was that they focused their work on homeless Catholic children. There was, in fact, some tension between the Catholic organizations and the CAS.

Religious differences aside, the St. Vincent's LH had its everyday similarities to the Brooklyn/Manhattan CAS LHs: sleeping quarters and meals at a low cost, evening classes, holiday banquents, savings bank, and various forms of entertainment, all of this being contained within a single building. Instead of a superintendent, there was a resident chaplain, who in 1899 was a Fr. W. L. Blake. It was said to be open to all who were homeless, but was primarily patronized by newsboys.

In 1894, there was some talk of opening up yet another newsboys' LH in Brooklyn, again along the lines of existing LHs (dormitories, classrooms, etc.). This new home would have been located near Brooklyn's City Hall and was to be called the Newsboys' College. It was not affiliated with the Brooklyn CAS, although I am not sure if the men behind it were associated with any other organization. It did not seem, however, to have ever gotten past the planning stage, as I can find no evidence of it actually being built.





 

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