| Beckers Aniline & Chemical Works East 83rd Street and Ditmas Avenue, Brooklyn New York Source: The Washington Post, July 5, 1916 |
The Beckers Aniline & Chemical Works was established in 1912 by Dr. William Gerard Beckers. He was a German chemist who had emigrated to
the U.S. to work for Bayer as a color technician. The original dye plant was located at 107-113 Underhill Avenue, Brooklyn, in the densely populated
Flatbush neighborhood. The site consisted of a two-story stone building for the office and laboratory and several small wooden frame buildings
making the precious dyes needed by the textile industry. Production began with only five to six men, but the plant eventually employed twenty-six.
At the onset of World War I, the company had 15 dyes in the line, made from imported intermediates. The annual output was only about 180 tons.
As this inventory dwindled, production declined until domestic intermediates came on the market. The company's early production consisted of
simple azo dyes and alizarin substitutes such as gallocyanine, a mordant blue dye known as alizarin navy blue:
Beckers Aniline was an early producer of dimethylaniline and its derivative dyes methylene blue and methyl violet. The company had achieved a 5
percent share of the U.S. dyes market by 1914. The major products in the line at this time were:
On November 13, 1914, the plant was conducting the last of a series of trial batches for a new dye. A tremendous explosion occurred in the
dimethylaniline autoclave which was located in the second floor laboratory. The explosion and subsequent fire wrecked the plant and killed two
employees: Walter Haaren, assistant chemist and Adolph Wolters, chemist. Dr. Beckers himself was badly injured along with many other
employees. Neighborhood buildings were rocked on their foundations and their windows were shattered. A horse and wagon passing on
Underhill Avenue were toppled over, falling on an automobile.
Dr. Beckers had been working around the clock on dye experiments, guided by data he obtained on a recent trip to Germany. The site had already
experienced two explosions and small fires. This explosion occurred just minutes after Dr. Beckers left the laboratory. He was in the conference
room meeting with salesmen. With his left ear severely lacerated, he staggered across the street to the office of Dr. J.B. Neary, who treated the
wounds.
A strong-willed man, Dr. Beckers reincorporated the company a few months later, increasing the capitalization to $1.0 million. Financial backers
were Eugene Meyer, Jr. and Co. and Renskorf, Lyon and Co. He purchased a large 15 acre site in the less populated Canarsie meadows section
of Brooklyn, at the intersection of East 83rd Street and Ditmas Avenue. The property was bordered by the Manhattan Beach Division tracks of the
Long Island Railroad. This land was part of the town of Flatlands and was known as the Rugby section in the early 1900's.
The architect Benjamin Forrester designed the new plant. In 1915, twelve large corrugated iron buildings were erected, along with a brick
powerhouse where coal was burned in boilers to make steam, a two-story red brick building for the main office, two concrete manufacturing
buildings, and a three-story concrete warehouse, 60 feet by 90 feet. Construction continued in 1916 with six one-story brick manufacturing
buildings, with ceilings 30-50 feet high, a three-story brick building, 40 feet by 175 feet, for the chemical and dye testing laboratories, and a
manufacturing building 80 feet by 165 feet, which had a ceiling height of 65 feet. A four-story brick warehouse, 80 feet by 190 feet, was added in
1917.
The business grew rapidly due to the shortage of dyes during World War I. The site was continuously expanded and eventually had 40 buildings,
employing up to 1,200. The wage payroll was over $1.0 million in 1917. The company had its own construction crew for erecting buildings and
installing production equipment and machinery. A cafeteria, hospital and fire department were located on the site. There was an industrial
insurance organization, with 250 men enrolled, and a profit sharing plan.
Sales revenue was several million dollars in 1917. The product range consisted of about 50 dyes, including the alizarin substitute colors, acid and
chrome azo dyes, 14 intermediates such as ethylaniline, ethylbenzylaniline, ethylbenzylanilinesulfonic acid and several acid triphenylmethane dyes
derived from it.
The company was the sole supplier in the U.S. of the Chrome Blue B dye, used for sailors' uniforms. The demand exceeded manufacturing
capacity, even at the new, larger plant. Sidney R. David, who at the time was sales manager of the New England branch office, said later in his
career:
"To step up production we filled the barrels immediately the color was made-sometimes the paste had not sufficiently cooled and later blew
the top off the barrel, but the mills wanted the color so urgently that shipment was made and the product tested later in order to advise the
mill what strength they were receiving"
The new plant came under scrutiny in August 1916 by the Fire Department Bureau of Combustibles. Some Brooklyn citizens wanted to know if the
plant was making and storing explosives. They engaged a lawyer, Franklin Taylor, to make the inquiry but nothing unusual was found.
A loaded shrapnel shell, weighing thirty pounds, was found buried in the plant's coal bunker in September 1916. The shell was primed with a
fulminate of mercury percussion cap and it could have exploded if struck by a shovel. There was no evidence of malicious intent since the police
did not receive any complaint or threat to the company. Fire Chief Joseph Hammitt said the unexploded shell likely landed on a coal barge as a
result of the Black Tom munitions depot explosion in Jersey City on July 30, 1916 (see photo below).
Beckers Aniline entered sulfur dye production in early 1917 with the purchase of Standard Aniline Products in Wappingers Falls, New York, an
important producer of sulfur black. The purchase price was $2.5 million. The company became the second largest dye producer in the U.S. after
the Schoellkopf Aniline and Chemical Works in Buffalo.
In May 1917, Beckers Aniline & Chemical Works, capitalized at $5,000,000, was consolidated with Schoellkopf Aniline & Chemical Works of Buffalo
and Benzol Products Co. of Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania to form the National Aniline & Chemical Company, Inc. The total capital invested was
$18.9 million. Dr. Beckers was named vice president and director.
An explosion of dye dust in the laboratories in July 1917 severely burned four employees. James Beriotti was not expected to survive his injuries.
The company did not believe the explosion was the result of sabotage.
National Aniline & Chemical Company continued to operate the Brooklyn plant. Anthraquinone type dyes were introduced in early 1918. The plant
was the first in the U.S. to manufacture synthetic alizarin, from anthracene made in America. Also introduced were the acid alizarin blues, known
as alizarin sapphires, which were fast blue shades for woolens:
After the war, the alizarin sapphire dyes were in high demand due to their resistance to fading. By 1919, National Aniline and Chemical Company
had spent $845,000 in R & D and manufacturing capacity to produce alizarin sapphire and carbanthrene blue, a vat dye, in its plants. An exhibit of
these dyes, highlighting their fastness properties on fabrics, was made at various department stores throughout the country (see ad below). The
high quality helped convince textile mills that American made dyes were equal to the best dyes from Germany.
Plans were made in August 1918 to add a two-story, 40 by 85 foot addition. The plant experienced an explosion in November 1918 which injured
two men and burned eight others severely. A leak in a distillation unit which contained raw material for aniline dyes caused the blast and
subsequent fire. Another fire in July 1919 resulted in $50,000 damage to the plant. In October 1920, John Tollard, the night watchman, survived a
volley of bullets from three armed robbers intent on stealing the $10,000 cash payroll. He returned fire, killing one of the bandits and foiling the
robbery.
Production was gradually transferred to the National Aniline & Chemical Company plant in Buffalo. In January 1920, in one of the largest real
estate transactions recorded in Brooklyn, the plant was sold for $700,000 to Hilwalkal Corporation. This was a real estate holding company
whose name was derived from the syllables of the names of the directors: Jacob Hilder; Leo and Max Wallerstein, and Edwin L. Kalish. National
Aniline & Chemical leased the plant back to continue production operations until a decision was made about closure.
By the end of 1920, employment had been reduced to several hundred men. In 1921 the National Aniline & Chemical Company was combined
with four other companies to form the Allied Chemical & Dye Corporation, with capitalization of $175,000,000. Dr. Beckers was a director until his
death in 1948.
The Brooklyn plant was closed in March 1922 and the property remained idle for a few years. The Brooklyn Union Gas Company then purchased
the site and remodeled several buildings for their business. The former main office building of Beckers Aniline is still used today by KeySpan, the
energy company that acquired Brooklyn Union Gas several years ago.
Canarsie area historians report the Beckers plant provided many important jobs for residents but also presented safety and environmental issues.
The workers would come home at night with their hands, faces and clothing stained the colors of the rainbow. Neighbors recalled explosions in
the small buildings that were heard all over Canarsie. The dye effluent was carried by a sewer line which periodically overflowed onto the area
now occupied by the South Shore High School. This line emptied into the Paerdegat Basin, contributing pollution that eventually caused Jamaica
Bay to be closed for swimming and oyster gathering after January 1, 1920. This eliminated the oyster business which had supplied 300,000
bushels of oysters yearly. The company argued in court that 38 city sewers also contributed to the pollution of the bay. Several oystermen won
lawsuits filed against the company for damages totalling $25,000.
These problems were not unique to Beckers Aniline and reflected the rudimentary safety and environmental controls of the emerging chemical
industry in the U.S. As smaller companies were consolidated into large corporations, investments were made in air pollution control systems and
wastewater treatment plants. The establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the 1970's would lead to further improvements.
The dye industry however would always be haunted by its impact on the environment, eroding trust from the public.
References:
1) Williams Haynes, American Chemical Industry, Vol. III, pp. 234-235 (New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1945)
2) Williams Haynes, American Chemical Industry, Vol. VI, pp. 292-293 (New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1949)
3) “1 Killed, 26 Hurt in Chemist’s Test of Aniline Secret”, The New York Times, November 14, 1914
4) "Explosion Kills 1, Hurts 27", The Washington Post, November 14, 1914
5) "Shell Found Buried In Dye Works Coal", The New York Times, September 30, 1916
6) "The United States Dye Trade", The Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica), April 20, 1917
7) "New Companies", Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering, Vol. 17, No. 12, December 15, 1917, p. 722
8) Louis J. Matos, "Dyes From the Manufacturers' Standpoint", Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Vol. 19, No. 65, September 25, 1919, p. 410
9) Thomas H. Norton, "A Census Of the Artificial Dyestuffs Used In the United States", Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. 8, No.
11, November 1916, p. 1046
10) "Brooklyn Dye Men In Whirlwind Work Build Great Trade", The Brooklyn Eagle, February 13, 1918
11) "11 Hurt By Explosion", The New York Times, November 9, 1918
12) "Notes of the Trade", American Dyestuff Reporter, Vol. 3, No. 22, November 25, 1918, p. 18
13) "Notes of the Trade", American Dyestuff Reporter, Vol. 5, No. 5, August 4, 1919, p. 18
14) Elene Foster, "The Color Situation" (New York: National Aniline & Chemical Company), 1919
15) "Beckers To Appeal Big Oyster Verdic", The Brooklyn Eagle, October 24, 1919
16) "National Aniline Co. Plant Is Taken Over By New Corporation", The Brooklyn Eagle, January 11, 1920
17) "Oystermen Recover $3,500", The Brooklyn Eagle, March 11, 1920
18) "Five Chemical Firms Plan Big Merger", The New York Times, September 4, 1920
19) "Bandit Shot, $10,000 Payroll Is Saved", The New York Times, October 5, 1920
20) John Denton, “Little Old Canarsie”, Canarsie Courier, August 14, 2003
21) John Denton, “Little Old Canarsie-Tool & Dye Factory Became "Crutch" Here After WW I", Canarsie Courier, October 23, 2003
22) Yolanda Pittman, "Tour-takers Get A Glimpse of Our Past", Canarsie Courier, September 18, 2003
23) S.R. David, "Thoughts: Idle and Otherwise", American Dyestuff Reporter, Vol. 35, No. 24, December 2, 1946, pp. 627-628
24) "Four Burned in Dye Works", New York Times, July 2, 1917
the U.S. to work for Bayer as a color technician. The original dye plant was located at 107-113 Underhill Avenue, Brooklyn, in the densely populated
Flatbush neighborhood. The site consisted of a two-story stone building for the office and laboratory and several small wooden frame buildings
making the precious dyes needed by the textile industry. Production began with only five to six men, but the plant eventually employed twenty-six.
At the onset of World War I, the company had 15 dyes in the line, made from imported intermediates. The annual output was only about 180 tons.
As this inventory dwindled, production declined until domestic intermediates came on the market. The company's early production consisted of
simple azo dyes and alizarin substitutes such as gallocyanine, a mordant blue dye known as alizarin navy blue:
Beckers Aniline was an early producer of dimethylaniline and its derivative dyes methylene blue and methyl violet. The company had achieved a 5
percent share of the U.S. dyes market by 1914. The major products in the line at this time were:
On November 13, 1914, the plant was conducting the last of a series of trial batches for a new dye. A tremendous explosion occurred in the
dimethylaniline autoclave which was located in the second floor laboratory. The explosion and subsequent fire wrecked the plant and killed two
employees: Walter Haaren, assistant chemist and Adolph Wolters, chemist. Dr. Beckers himself was badly injured along with many other
employees. Neighborhood buildings were rocked on their foundations and their windows were shattered. A horse and wagon passing on
Underhill Avenue were toppled over, falling on an automobile.
Dr. Beckers had been working around the clock on dye experiments, guided by data he obtained on a recent trip to Germany. The site had already
experienced two explosions and small fires. This explosion occurred just minutes after Dr. Beckers left the laboratory. He was in the conference
room meeting with salesmen. With his left ear severely lacerated, he staggered across the street to the office of Dr. J.B. Neary, who treated the
wounds.
A strong-willed man, Dr. Beckers reincorporated the company a few months later, increasing the capitalization to $1.0 million. Financial backers
were Eugene Meyer, Jr. and Co. and Renskorf, Lyon and Co. He purchased a large 15 acre site in the less populated Canarsie meadows section
of Brooklyn, at the intersection of East 83rd Street and Ditmas Avenue. The property was bordered by the Manhattan Beach Division tracks of the
Long Island Railroad. This land was part of the town of Flatlands and was known as the Rugby section in the early 1900's.
The architect Benjamin Forrester designed the new plant. In 1915, twelve large corrugated iron buildings were erected, along with a brick
powerhouse where coal was burned in boilers to make steam, a two-story red brick building for the main office, two concrete manufacturing
buildings, and a three-story concrete warehouse, 60 feet by 90 feet. Construction continued in 1916 with six one-story brick manufacturing
buildings, with ceilings 30-50 feet high, a three-story brick building, 40 feet by 175 feet, for the chemical and dye testing laboratories, and a
manufacturing building 80 feet by 165 feet, which had a ceiling height of 65 feet. A four-story brick warehouse, 80 feet by 190 feet, was added in
1917.
The business grew rapidly due to the shortage of dyes during World War I. The site was continuously expanded and eventually had 40 buildings,
employing up to 1,200. The wage payroll was over $1.0 million in 1917. The company had its own construction crew for erecting buildings and
installing production equipment and machinery. A cafeteria, hospital and fire department were located on the site. There was an industrial
insurance organization, with 250 men enrolled, and a profit sharing plan.
Sales revenue was several million dollars in 1917. The product range consisted of about 50 dyes, including the alizarin substitute colors, acid and
chrome azo dyes, 14 intermediates such as ethylaniline, ethylbenzylaniline, ethylbenzylanilinesulfonic acid and several acid triphenylmethane dyes
derived from it.
The company was the sole supplier in the U.S. of the Chrome Blue B dye, used for sailors' uniforms. The demand exceeded manufacturing
capacity, even at the new, larger plant. Sidney R. David, who at the time was sales manager of the New England branch office, said later in his
career:
"To step up production we filled the barrels immediately the color was made-sometimes the paste had not sufficiently cooled and later blew
the top off the barrel, but the mills wanted the color so urgently that shipment was made and the product tested later in order to advise the
mill what strength they were receiving"
The new plant came under scrutiny in August 1916 by the Fire Department Bureau of Combustibles. Some Brooklyn citizens wanted to know if the
plant was making and storing explosives. They engaged a lawyer, Franklin Taylor, to make the inquiry but nothing unusual was found.
A loaded shrapnel shell, weighing thirty pounds, was found buried in the plant's coal bunker in September 1916. The shell was primed with a
fulminate of mercury percussion cap and it could have exploded if struck by a shovel. There was no evidence of malicious intent since the police
did not receive any complaint or threat to the company. Fire Chief Joseph Hammitt said the unexploded shell likely landed on a coal barge as a
result of the Black Tom munitions depot explosion in Jersey City on July 30, 1916 (see photo below).
Beckers Aniline entered sulfur dye production in early 1917 with the purchase of Standard Aniline Products in Wappingers Falls, New York, an
important producer of sulfur black. The purchase price was $2.5 million. The company became the second largest dye producer in the U.S. after
the Schoellkopf Aniline and Chemical Works in Buffalo.
In May 1917, Beckers Aniline & Chemical Works, capitalized at $5,000,000, was consolidated with Schoellkopf Aniline & Chemical Works of Buffalo
and Benzol Products Co. of Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania to form the National Aniline & Chemical Company, Inc. The total capital invested was
$18.9 million. Dr. Beckers was named vice president and director.
An explosion of dye dust in the laboratories in July 1917 severely burned four employees. James Beriotti was not expected to survive his injuries.
The company did not believe the explosion was the result of sabotage.
National Aniline & Chemical Company continued to operate the Brooklyn plant. Anthraquinone type dyes were introduced in early 1918. The plant
was the first in the U.S. to manufacture synthetic alizarin, from anthracene made in America. Also introduced were the acid alizarin blues, known
as alizarin sapphires, which were fast blue shades for woolens:
After the war, the alizarin sapphire dyes were in high demand due to their resistance to fading. By 1919, National Aniline and Chemical Company
had spent $845,000 in R & D and manufacturing capacity to produce alizarin sapphire and carbanthrene blue, a vat dye, in its plants. An exhibit of
these dyes, highlighting their fastness properties on fabrics, was made at various department stores throughout the country (see ad below). The
high quality helped convince textile mills that American made dyes were equal to the best dyes from Germany.
Plans were made in August 1918 to add a two-story, 40 by 85 foot addition. The plant experienced an explosion in November 1918 which injured
two men and burned eight others severely. A leak in a distillation unit which contained raw material for aniline dyes caused the blast and
subsequent fire. Another fire in July 1919 resulted in $50,000 damage to the plant. In October 1920, John Tollard, the night watchman, survived a
volley of bullets from three armed robbers intent on stealing the $10,000 cash payroll. He returned fire, killing one of the bandits and foiling the
robbery.
Production was gradually transferred to the National Aniline & Chemical Company plant in Buffalo. In January 1920, in one of the largest real
estate transactions recorded in Brooklyn, the plant was sold for $700,000 to Hilwalkal Corporation. This was a real estate holding company
whose name was derived from the syllables of the names of the directors: Jacob Hilder; Leo and Max Wallerstein, and Edwin L. Kalish. National
Aniline & Chemical leased the plant back to continue production operations until a decision was made about closure.
By the end of 1920, employment had been reduced to several hundred men. In 1921 the National Aniline & Chemical Company was combined
with four other companies to form the Allied Chemical & Dye Corporation, with capitalization of $175,000,000. Dr. Beckers was a director until his
death in 1948.
The Brooklyn plant was closed in March 1922 and the property remained idle for a few years. The Brooklyn Union Gas Company then purchased
the site and remodeled several buildings for their business. The former main office building of Beckers Aniline is still used today by KeySpan, the
energy company that acquired Brooklyn Union Gas several years ago.
Canarsie area historians report the Beckers plant provided many important jobs for residents but also presented safety and environmental issues.
The workers would come home at night with their hands, faces and clothing stained the colors of the rainbow. Neighbors recalled explosions in
the small buildings that were heard all over Canarsie. The dye effluent was carried by a sewer line which periodically overflowed onto the area
now occupied by the South Shore High School. This line emptied into the Paerdegat Basin, contributing pollution that eventually caused Jamaica
Bay to be closed for swimming and oyster gathering after January 1, 1920. This eliminated the oyster business which had supplied 300,000
bushels of oysters yearly. The company argued in court that 38 city sewers also contributed to the pollution of the bay. Several oystermen won
lawsuits filed against the company for damages totalling $25,000.
These problems were not unique to Beckers Aniline and reflected the rudimentary safety and environmental controls of the emerging chemical
industry in the U.S. As smaller companies were consolidated into large corporations, investments were made in air pollution control systems and
wastewater treatment plants. The establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the 1970's would lead to further improvements.
The dye industry however would always be haunted by its impact on the environment, eroding trust from the public.
References:
1) Williams Haynes, American Chemical Industry, Vol. III, pp. 234-235 (New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1945)
2) Williams Haynes, American Chemical Industry, Vol. VI, pp. 292-293 (New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1949)
3) “1 Killed, 26 Hurt in Chemist’s Test of Aniline Secret”, The New York Times, November 14, 1914
4) "Explosion Kills 1, Hurts 27", The Washington Post, November 14, 1914
5) "Shell Found Buried In Dye Works Coal", The New York Times, September 30, 1916
6) "The United States Dye Trade", The Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica), April 20, 1917
7) "New Companies", Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering, Vol. 17, No. 12, December 15, 1917, p. 722
8) Louis J. Matos, "Dyes From the Manufacturers' Standpoint", Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Vol. 19, No. 65, September 25, 1919, p. 410
9) Thomas H. Norton, "A Census Of the Artificial Dyestuffs Used In the United States", Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. 8, No.
11, November 1916, p. 1046
10) "Brooklyn Dye Men In Whirlwind Work Build Great Trade", The Brooklyn Eagle, February 13, 1918
11) "11 Hurt By Explosion", The New York Times, November 9, 1918
12) "Notes of the Trade", American Dyestuff Reporter, Vol. 3, No. 22, November 25, 1918, p. 18
13) "Notes of the Trade", American Dyestuff Reporter, Vol. 5, No. 5, August 4, 1919, p. 18
14) Elene Foster, "The Color Situation" (New York: National Aniline & Chemical Company), 1919
15) "Beckers To Appeal Big Oyster Verdic", The Brooklyn Eagle, October 24, 1919
16) "National Aniline Co. Plant Is Taken Over By New Corporation", The Brooklyn Eagle, January 11, 1920
17) "Oystermen Recover $3,500", The Brooklyn Eagle, March 11, 1920
18) "Five Chemical Firms Plan Big Merger", The New York Times, September 4, 1920
19) "Bandit Shot, $10,000 Payroll Is Saved", The New York Times, October 5, 1920
20) John Denton, “Little Old Canarsie”, Canarsie Courier, August 14, 2003
21) John Denton, “Little Old Canarsie-Tool & Dye Factory Became "Crutch" Here After WW I", Canarsie Courier, October 23, 2003
22) Yolanda Pittman, "Tour-takers Get A Glimpse of Our Past", Canarsie Courier, September 18, 2003
23) S.R. David, "Thoughts: Idle and Otherwise", American Dyestuff Reporter, Vol. 35, No. 24, December 2, 1946, pp. 627-628
24) "Four Burned in Dye Works", New York Times, July 2, 1917
Flatbush Plant Location
Canarsie Plant Location
Black Tom Munitions Depot Explosion in Jersey City-July 30,
1916. Unexploded Shell Later Found at Beckers Aniline &
Chemical Works in Brooklyn. Photo: Liberty State Park.
Click to Enlarge
1916. Unexploded Shell Later Found at Beckers Aniline &
Chemical Works in Brooklyn. Photo: Liberty State Park.
Click to Enlarge
| Ad in The Washington Post, September 23, 1918 Click to Enlarge |
 |  |  |  |  |  |
| Beckers Aniline & Chemical Works Brooklyn, New York |
ColorantsHistory.Org
| Dr. William G. Beckers ca. 1912 |
| Gallocyanine (C.I. Mordant Blue 10) |
Alizarin Sapphire (C.I. Acid Blue 41)
|
These photos of former buildings of the Beckers Aniline & Chemical Works were taken on January 27, 2008. The left photo depicts a
former dye manufacturing building erected in 1916. The building was later remodelled. The top right photo shows the 4-story red brick
building erected in 1917 as the dye firm’s warehouse. The architectural details in the facade, the archway keystones, and elaborate
brickwork make this an impressive building to this day. These buildings are currently being used by KeySpan Energy. Click on photos to
enlarge.
Photos Courtesy of Frank H. Jump , copyright and used here with permission.
former dye manufacturing building erected in 1916. The building was later remodelled. The top right photo shows the 4-story red brick
building erected in 1917 as the dye firm’s warehouse. The architectural details in the facade, the archway keystones, and elaborate
brickwork make this an impressive building to this day. These buildings are currently being used by KeySpan Energy. Click on photos to
enlarge.
Photos Courtesy of Frank H. Jump , copyright and used here with permission.