Designated February 10, 2004
The Thomson Meter Co. Building, among the most aesthetically interesting industrial structures in New York City, is a pioneering American building that employs, in part, a frank exterior expression of its concrete structure. It also displays a fairly early use in New York of polychromatic glazed terracotta. The success of the Thomson Meter Co., founded c. 1890 in Brooklyn to manufacture John Thomson’s patented water meters, led to a new 4-story (plus basement) factory, built in 1908-09 to the design of Louis E. Jallade, with the Hennebique Construction Co. as general contractor.
Jallade’s use of ceramic ornament, particularly leaf motifs in terra cotta, was clearly influenced by Parisian examples. After Thomson’s death, this building was sold in 1927 to the New York Eskimo Pie Corp., a subsidiary of the parent firm, for the regional manufacture of the first American chocolate-covered ice cream bar (created in 1920). Eskimo Pie products were made here until 1966.
*Excerpt from the Landmarks Preservation Commission designation report
STATUS Designated Individual Landmarks
The Neighborhood
DUMBO
DUMBO became increasingly industrial in the decades following the Civil War. Due to it’s transformation from residential to industrial there is a wide range of architectural styles and materials from Greek Revival to reinforced concrete. One of the main attractions of DUMBO is the extant tracks...
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