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
#362 Gatsby and the Mansions of the Gold Coast
#361 Landmarks of Coney Island (Extended Funhouse Mix)
#360 The Botanical Gardens of New York City
#359 The Magic of the Movie Theater
#358 The Muppets Take Manhattan (Bowery Boys Movie Club)
#357 Edith Wharton's New York
#356 Pfizer: A Brooklyn Origin Story
#355 The Midnight Adventures of Doctor Parkhurst
#354 Who Wrote the First American Cookbook?
#353 Harlem Before the Renaissance
Rewind: Harlem Nights at the Hotel Theresa
#352 The Birth of Black Harlem
#351 Auntie Mame (Bowery Boys Movie Club)
#350 The World Trade Center in the 1970s
Rewind: Strange Hoaxes of the 19th Century
#349 The Queensboro Bridge and the Rise of a Borough
Rewind: The Destruction of Penn Station
Rewind: The Construction of Penn Station
#348 Cheers! The Stories of Four Fabulous Cocktails
Rewind: Historic Vaccines -- The End of Polio and Smallpox
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