Greenpoint Industrial Complex become NYC's 89th Historic District
From the Downtown Brooklyn Star
Dateline : Thursday, November 08, 2007
Designation Sharpens Greenpoint’s History
At least this part of Greenpoint rich industrial past won’t be erased.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted last week to landmark the Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory. Located on Greenpoint Avenue and West and Kent streets, the factory complex consists of nine buildings dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the industrial complex are the 10-foot-tall yellow pencils that adorn the fa?ade of 61 Greenpoint Avenue.
“This complex fueled Eberhard Faber’s rise to local, national, and international prominence in the late 19th century,” commented LPC chair Robert Tierney, “becoming one of Brooklyn’s most important employers, and one of the world’s best known brands of pencils.”
After the nearby Greenpoint Terminal Market went up in flames last May, the Eberhard Faber complex became one of the biggest remaining industrial complexes on the North Brooklyn waterfront, aside from the massive Domino Sugar Factory. Unfortunately for preservationists, two other buildings in the complex have already been demolished.
Until 1956, the factory churned out No. 2 Mongol pencils. Founded by German native John Eberhard Faber, the factory was originally in Manhattan until it was destroyed by a fire in 1872. A new and improved factory was built at the current Brooklyn location, and at the time of Faber’s death in 1879 it was the largest pencil factory in the United States.
The designation officially creates the two-block Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory Historic District, making it the 89th historic district in the city. – Shane Miller