Thursday, October 30, 2008

A Look Back In History: Before Smith Street Was Restaurant Row

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# 264 To # 270 Smith Street back in 1928



The same stretch of Smith Street in 2008


Long, long before Smith Street was known as 'Restaurant Row', the street seems to have been a great place to shop. The little stretch pictured above in 1928 was home to a hat store, a produce store, a grain merchant and a hardware store. These days, two of the storefronts have been turned into residences. The others currently house the lovely wine store 'Smith & Vine' and the other is now Café Doré, a restaurant.
The vintage photo was sent to me by wonderful Carroll Gardens resident Alexandrea, who is kind enough to share it here with all of us. Thanks!


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

love your site! wish this picture was on the odd # side-- thats where i live!

Kelly said...

Hi Anonymous,
I know just how you feel. I have yet to find an old photo of my block and my home.
Keep on checking back though. Alexandrea shared some more great pics with me which I will post in the next few weeks.

Anonymous said...

getting pic of your house should be easy - City sells them from I think about 1938 project where they photographed each parcel..Can find on NYC website.
I found pics of my block(baltic)and of Smith st from some website called oldbrooklyn photos or something like that. But don't have them on digital to send.

Kelly said...

Oh, I have tried that, even going to downtown Manhattan to look at all their microfilms from the 1938 Tax record series, but the roll that my house is on has been lost or misplaced for years.
The only older photo I ever saw was one that I found at the Brooklyn Tax Record office. And it was only tiny.
If you ever have a chance to have your photo scanned, I would love to post it here so that we can get a permanent record of how the neighborhood looked in the 1920/1930's

Anonymous said...

I encountered the same problem when I tried to obtain a photo of my house on President St. I was told the photo was lost or misplaced. I tried twice thereafter with the same result, so I guess we're out of luck, Katia!

Kelly said...

Hi Maryann,
Bummer, indeed.
I should just ask the elderly people on the block if they have an old photo album. I bet there are photos out there hidden away between yellowed pages of what our blocks looked like.
I have been successful taking digital photos of old ones. So if anyone out there has access to any pics, write me an email.