The Brooklyn waterfront was once decorated with a yellow Domino Sugar sign, affixed to an aging refinery along a row of deteriorating industrial structures facing the East River.
The Domino Sugar Refinery, completed in 1883 (replacing an older refinery after a devastating fire), was more than a factory. During the Gilded Age and into the 20th century, this Brooklyn landmark was the center of America's sugar manufacturing, helping to fuel the country's hunger for sweet delights.
But the story goes further back in time -- back hundreds of years in New York City history. The sugar trade was one of the most important industries in New York, and for many decades, if you used sugar to make anything, you were probably using sugar that had been refined in New York.
Sugar helped to build New York. Thousands and thousands of New Yorkers were employed in sugarhouses and refineries. And of all the sugar makers, there was one name that stood above the rest -- Havemeyer!
The Havemeyers were America’s leading sugar titans and by the 1850s they had moved their empire to the Brooklyn waterfront – and the neighborhood of Williamsburg. Their massive refinery helped establish the industrial nature of Williamsburg and led a rush of sugar manufacturers to Brooklyn, most of which would then be absorbed into the Havemeyer’s operation.
But this story is even larger than New York, of course. It encompasses the transatlantic slave trade, political influence in the Caribbean, Cuba-United States relations, and the sorry working conditions faced by Hayemeyer's underpaid employees.
PLUS: It's Dumbo vs Williamsburg in the Coffee and Sugar War of the 1890s!
Visit the website for more information and images of places from this week's show
#261 The Huddled Masses: Emma Lazarus and the Statue of Liberty
#260 Journey to Grey Gardens: A Tale of Two Edies
#259 Crossing to Brooklyn: How the Williamsburg Bridge Changed New York
#258 Tales from Tribeca History
#257 Frozen In Time: The Great Blizzard of 1888
#256 DUMBO: Life on Brooklyn's Waterfront
#255 The Rescue of Grand Central
#254 The Destruction of Penn Station
#253 Opening Day of the New York City Subway
#252 The Underground Railroad: Escape through New York
#251 McGurk's Suicide Hall: The Bowery's Most Notorious Dive
#250 The Empire State Building: Story of an Icon
#249 Madam C.J. Walker: Harlem's Hair Care Millionaire
#248 Sitting Down with Roz Chast of the New Yorker
#247 Rodgers and Hammerstein: The Golden Age of Broadway
#246 Tales from a Tenement: Three Families on the Lower East Side
#245 The Fall of the Fifth Avenue Mansions
#244 The Rise of the Fifth Avenue Mansions
#243 New York In Neon: Signs of the City
#242 New York and the Dawn of Photography
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
The Rest Is History
Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra