The Joshua Oldham Saw Works at 26th Street and 3rd Avenue Brooklyn,Saw-Book_v2n5-1903smaller.pdfAs I mentioned a few weeks ago, in the course of investigating the roots of Joshua Oldham & Sons, our saw-making forebears at our new home at 112 26th street, I came across a single issue of a magazine series the company printed from at least 1899 - 1905. Click to download the book,Saw-Book_v2n5-1903smaller.pdfI went to the Brooklyn Collection at the Brooklyn Public Library to see the original. It's beautifully done, a color cover of a Phoenix rising from the flames of the fire that destroyed the factory in late 1901. It's great. The back cover is even better but all the graphics are wonderful. I am still trying to make sense of the engraving the factory layout on page three with what remains of the original building and two survey maps that I also saw at the library. I'll write about that as soon as I am done. I'm finding it very interesting to start to be able to envision this neighborhood before the building of the expressway. BTW in the factory engraving we would be located in the large warehouse building in the back, in the right corner. But I am not sure yet if the engraving is accurate or "enhanced" by the artist.
Click on any of the images to download the booklet. I want to thank the library Click to download the book,Saw-Book_v2n5-1903smaller.pdffor making all of this possible, saving the material, knowing how to find it, making it available to the public, writing about it in their blog, and letting me see it and take pictures.
In other news you might have noticed a new menu item on the top of the page (or near the bottom on the mobile flyout menu) listing the new events that we are holding at our space. I hope you can come join us.
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05/04/2016 danny
If the engraving is anything like those of nineteenth century Sheffield tool works, (it looks very similar in style) - there was usually an exaggeration of building size -- ie the humans, waggons, trains etc are shown very small - can easily be seen by going to the entrance archway in the few that still exist (actually quite small, but looking large in the engraving).
danny, Sheffield UK
05/04/2016 Alex B
Sigh. I wish I hadn't gone to Google maps. The 19th Century was much more romantic.
Alex, Pittsburgh
05/04/2016 Tom, Cincinnati
Libraries are wonderful things! Be sure to support yours.
05/04/2016 Don
Great material. I was going to suggest a copy of the original, but you are too quick for us mere mortals! Thanks for putting the effort in to this post. BTW - it seems the two links take you to the same document. But then, I am a Luddite.
05/04/2016 David Sewell
Joel,
If you want to get real deep into tracing the history of your building you might look up the Sanborn Insurance Company maps that were produced during this era in many American cities. They drew the entire town to establish fire insurance risks, and redrew it every 5 or 10 years so you can see what was built and approximately when. A big library like NYC or many college libraries might have them. Wikipedia has an article on the company; Sanborn Maps.
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danny, Sheffield UK
Alex, Pittsburgh
If you want to get real deep into tracing the history of your building you might look up the Sanborn Insurance Company maps that were produced during this era in many American cities. They drew the entire town to establish fire insurance risks, and redrew it every 5 or 10 years so you can see what was built and approximately when. A big library like NYC or many college libraries might have them. Wikipedia has an article on the company; Sanborn Maps.