The Eagle Warehouse now houses the rich, instead of goods, in Brooklyn. This is what the street looked like in 1883 when the Brooklyn Bridge opened (Eagle Warehouse is on the Left).
The Eagle Warehouse now houses the rich, instead of goods, in Brooklyn. This is what the street looked like in 1883 when the Brooklyn Bridge opened (Eagle Warehouse is on the Left).
My dad, Thomas "Tom" Gallagher was the operating engineer for the Eagle from 1935 to 1966. He maintained the huge coal fired boilers that ran two freight elevators, large enough to carry a fully loaded truck to the sixth floor. My father was an Irish imigrant and raised seven children, we had a nice home in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn. The master mechanic for the building was a fellow named Freddy Schwab, a German imigrant who lived with his wife on the second floor of the garage building next door going towards the Marine Fire Dept. Tower bldg. At the corner of Furman & Futon was the Pearl Toilet seat factory. Ah! the good ole days.
Posted by: Jim Gallagher at October 20, 2004 02:28 PM
Jim, that is a great story! It is amazing how technology has affected our lives in such a short period of time. Technology and commerce necessitated buildings like the Eagle Warehouse, then made them obsolete, ready for new tenants. It reminds me of the book How Buildings Learn by Stewart Brand, where he follows buildings and cities through many lives and occupants through the years. I found some old pictures from the Building Department that I am going to post, I love old Brooklyn. Thanks for your comment - NYC is nothing without the people who lived and worked here.
Posted by: plemeljr at October 20, 2004 03:49 PM
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