Domino Sugar Refinery
294 Kent Avenue | also 316 Kent Avenue, 300 Kent Avenue, 14 South 2nd Street | Williamsburg | built 1885
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Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1856
John C. Havemeyer and Charles E. Bertrand found a sugar refinery at Kent Avenue and South 3rd Street
Havemeyer & Bertrand was started at the end of 1856 by John C. Havemeyer and Charles E. Bertrand, at what is now the intersection of Kent Avenue and South 3rd Street. It became Havemeyer, Townsend & Company in 1858 and Havemeyers & Elder in 1863. Later called the Yellow Sugar House, it was the largest of the Havemeyer family's plants. These original structures stood on the site before the current refinery complex and were later destroyed by fire.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1882
Fire destroys the Havemeyers & Elder refinery while a new filter house is going up
On January 8, 1882, the original refinery burned down, wiping out the structures between South 3rd and South 4th streets, including warehouses and the refinery and finishing house. The loss was put at $1.5 million, about half covered by insurance, and 1,200 to 2,000 jobs vanished. The destruction pushed sugar prices up across the country.
“…the original refinery burned down on January 8, 1882, destroying the structures between South 3rd and South 4th streets.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1883
The Havemeyers rebuild the refinery after the fire, at a cost of $7 million
After the fire, Havemeyers & Elder submitted plans in March 1882 for a new fireproof pan and finishing house, 250 feet by 70, and Theodore Havemeyer oversaw the work. The reconstruction was reported finished by July 1883 and cost $7 million. By 1884 it had 1,000 men on the payroll producing 5,000 barrels of sugar daily.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1917
An explosion destroys part of the refinery during World War I and draws a crowd of more than 15,000
In 1917 an explosion tore through part of the plant and killed between six and twelve workers. More than 15,000 people gathered to watch it burn. At first there was serious concern that German agents were behind it, but the cause turned out to be sugar grains igniting in the machinery.
“In 1917, during World War I, an explosion destroyed part of the plant, killing between six and twelve workers.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1999
284 refinery workers strike over Tate & Lyle's plan to cut jobs, in one of the longest walkouts in city history
After union contracts ran out in late 1998, Tate & Lyle announced upgrades that would cut 100 jobs and weaken union guarantees. In response, 284 workers struck in June 1999. During the walkout the company scaled back operations at the refinery, doing much of the refining in Baltimore and then sending the product to Brooklyn to be finished. The strike ended in February 2001 with 110 positions eliminated, though over a hundred workers had already defected.
“As a result, 284 workers went on strike in June 1999.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2004
The Domino Sugar refinery stops operating after lack of demand
The plant could refine 950 million gallons of sugar a year, but by 2002 it was running at half that. In 2003 American Sugar Refining said the refinery would close, and it ceased operating in 2004, when over 220 workers lost their jobs at the end of January.
“The refinery stopped operating in 2004. More than 220 workers were laid off at the end of January 2004…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2007
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designates the Pan, Filter, and Finishing House as a city landmark
The commission designated the Pan, Filter, and Finishing House a city landmark in 2007 because the building mattered historically as one of the industrial plants lining Brooklyn's waterfront. The yellow sign for Domino Sugar that faces the East River was left out of the designation. The surrounding non-landmark structures were demolished starting in mid-2014.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2023
The old Pan, Filter, and Finishing House reopens as the Refinery, an office building with a glass barrel-vaulted roof
Two Trees rebuilt the landmarked house with a new glass structure set behind the old brick walls, and an LED copy of the Domino Sugar sign went up in December 2022. The renovated Refinery reopened on September 27, 2023, with 460,000 square feet of office space. By late 2024 only a quarter of it was leased, so the interior was divided up for smaller tenants.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Domino Sugar RefineryWikipedia
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