Greenpoint Reformed Church
136 Milton Street | also 138 Milton Street | Greenpoint | built 1867
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1867
Thomas C. Smith builds his own two-story brick house on Milton Street
The Landmarks Preservation Commission records that Thomas C. Smith built this house as his own residence in 1866-67, soon after buying a large tract along the south side of Milton Street from Governor Samuel Tilden. The free-standing, two-story brick house is three bays wide, with a central pavilion and an entrance portico on two Tuscan columns. Smith, a master builder and architect before he turned to porcelain, is credited with designing it himself.
“No. 136-138 was built by Thomas C. Smith as his residence in 1866-67…”
- 1867
Porcelain maker Smith mixes factory scraps into the basement concrete of his Milton Street home
Atlas Obscura says Thomas Smith, who made his fortune from a Greenpoint porcelain company he took over as payment of a debt, designed this house for himself in 1867. As the basement floor wore down with use, doorknobs and broken ceramics began to show through. Smith had apparently mixed his company's ceramic scraps into the concrete.
Source: atlasobscura.com
- 1944
The Greenpoint Reformed Church obtains the former Y.M.C.A. branch house in 1944
The Landmarks Preservation Commission's Greenpoint Historic District report says the former Thomas C. Smith residence housed the Greenpoint Y.M.C.A. until 1944. That year the Greenpoint Reformed Church obtained the property, and the report describes the house as still the church's home when it was written.
“The house had been used as the Greenpoint Branch of the Y.M.C.A. until 1944 when the Greenpoint Reformed Church obtained the property.”
- 2003
The Rev. Ann Kansfield becomes a pastor of Greenpoint Church, and Jennifer Aull joins in 2006
Wikipedia says the Reverend Ann Kansfield became one of the church's pastors in 2003, and her wife, the Reverend Jennifer Aull, joined as co-pastor in 2006. The two co-founded the group Room For All. As of March 2012 the article puts the congregation at 80 people.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2007
The church starts a food pantry for northern Brooklyn families
The church's food pantry began in October 2007, handing out groceries to individuals and families, most of them from northern Brooklyn. Wikipedia adds that the church also hosts a dinner and a soup kitchen for its neighbors.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2008
An unusual tile found in the parlor fireplace is believed to show Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston
In 2008 the director of Columbia University's historic preservation program stumbled on an unusual tile at the back of the parlor fireplace. A team of experts was assembled, and the tile is believed to portray Robert Fulton and his business partner Robert Livingston. It was probably made in the 1870s, but Atlas Obscura says it is unclear whether Smith knew Fulton or commissioned it.
Source: atlasobscura.com
Further reading
- Greenpoint Reformed ChurchWikipedia
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