BODY-BUILDING IN THE GOWANUS (1911)
Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes.
The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations.
Do you know the history of YOUR house?
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Brooklyn’s Third Avenue was always just a bit gritty – even before the city decided it needed a motorway there to help ease congestion. That was when it started construction on the Gowanus Expressway in 1939.
Traffic, though, had always been a large part of the avenue’s make-up. Even before the motorized vehicles, there were the horse-driven vehicles – cars, vans, streetcars, &c.
But it was not just the vehicles that motored along the road that gave Third Avenue its rep – it was also those that parked alongside it – on lots, motor pools, parts yards, and other commercial properties.
DONIGAN & NEILSON: BODY-BUILDERS
One company that fit perfectly into its surroundings was Donigan & Neilson at 743-747 Third Avenue. This partnership’s firm catered to those commercial companies that operated using a variety of vehicles – to deliver, to haul, to move, &c.
Donigan & Neilson built the bodies for those commercial vehicles – designing, building and assembling the bodies for hacks, trucks, vans, delivery wagons, and the like.
This, of course, was before the assembly-line manufactured truck, when it made sense to have a commercial truck body made to order.
According to their advertising, Donigan & Neilson began operations in 1875, when only horses propelled vehicles, and they were still going as late as 1947, when a horse was a far less common sight.
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Brownstone Detectives is an historic property research agency. Our mission is to document and save the histories of our clients’ homes. From our research, we produce our celebrated House History Books and House History Reports. Contact us today to begin discovering the history of your home.
