Heights History: Hotel St. George , 1900

By on November 5, 2008 8:33 pm in History

Shorpy.com writes about this photo:

“Hotel St. George, Brooklyn, circa 1900-1906.” Plus a ghost or two in this time exposure of the hotel’s Clark Street facades. This Brooklyn Heights landmark, which by the 1930s was New York’s largest hotel, with 2,632 rooms in a complex of buildings spread over a block, started with the 10-story dark brick structure, completed in 1885. After more than a century, it was destroyed by fire in 1995. The adjoining white building with the flagpoles, designed by Montrose Morris in the 1890s, still stands.

A ridiculously clear and large version of the photo above is available here.

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  • nabeguy

    Anyone happen to notice that there was a Turkish Bath on the block? Must have been precursor to Club Wildfyre.

  • http://www.flashlightworthybooks.com Peter Steinberg

    It took me a minute to orient myself in this photo. This is Clark looking towards Henry, yes? So the subway entrance is now where that arched entryway on the right side of the photo is. Weird how it moved — it seems to be much closer to Hicks in this photo.

    Oh wait a minute, there wasn’t a subway yet in 1900. Wow. Hard to imagine NYC with a subway.

    Peter
    http://www.FlashlightWorthy.com
    Recommending books so good, they’ll keep you up past your bedtime. ;)

  • bornhere

    Wow. Wow. The enlargement is spectacular.

    (But, Peter, I think it’s taken from the southwest “corner” of Clark and Henry looking toward Hicks, with 15 Clark [at Willow] visible in the distance.)

  • Senor Salsa

    Yes. It also looks to me as taken from what is now the cracked and dirty sidewalk in front of Taza. Somewhat confusing…it seems that what is now Clark Residences is what was the original Hotel St. George…?

  • Senor Salsa

    I am also insanely curious as to what the building was in the left side of picture (basically behind the photographer). Now it is 70 Clark Street (Taza, Clark Restaurant)…but it looks like it used to be something quite substantial and tall…

  • nabeguy

    The building to the left of the photo was actually a church. If you look on the walls of the Clark Street Diner, they have a picture taken from Henry Street in front of the Lutheran Church towards Henrty/Clark corner that includes the entire building.

  • Homer Fink

    so, is Henry Street now where that turkish baths is in the photo? am i looking at it the right way?

  • AEB

    Well, I can see Gristedes with it’s window sign proclaiming that the store will be reopened soon…..

  • bornhere

    Homer — The Turkish Bath is the Clark Street side of the liquor store, more or less (or the sushi place). You are “standing” on Clark, looking northwest-ish.

  • No One Of Consequence

    I’d guestimate the turkish bath is more in the vicinity of Heights Prime Meats’, and the guy by the carriage house(?) is closer to the liquor store or the subway entrance.

  • nabeguy

    There’s a whole yahoo group dedicated to the St. George. Check it out

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StGeorgeTower/

    This particular photo was taken from what is now the Clark Street Diner looking down Clark towards Hicks. Of the three large buildings, the middle one is the original hotel, and the one that burned down while the othrer two still stand. And yes, that is a carriage house approximately where the subway entrance now is.

  • nabeguy

    By the way, here’s a link to a photo in the NYPL collection of the church.

    http://tinyurl.com/5cjles

  • my2cents

    Do you think there were crotchety neighbors across the street from the hotel back then? “Oy, those horses with the clipping and clopping dropping off guests all night long!”

  • nabeguy

    They probably weren’t as concerned with the horses dropping off guests as they were with the other things they were dropping.

  • Andrew Porter

    Homer, contact me off-list to finally scan in all those old postcards I have of the St. George and the immediate neighborhood….

  • John Wentling

    Fascinating photo – I lived in the Hotel St. George as a child (late 50’s), until we moved into the Hotel Margaret, and then to the basement apt. at 132 Henry St.. I learned to read in the St. George newsstand, while my mother worked 12 hour shifts at the Plymouth Coffee Shop (Clark’s).

    Sure miss The Heights – I fear it’s not for the middle class anymore.

  • Kristine

    Does anyone know when the Clark Street entrance/Hotel St. George reopened after the 1995 fire? Kristine