With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Brooklyn dig turns up 19th century flour mill

The promise of construction of the Brooklyn Bridge Park development along the DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights waterfront may be a symbol of a glorious future for the borough — but it has also revealed a scintillating symbol of Brooklyn’s glorious past.

Workers who have begun prepping Pier 1 to become a large sweeping front lawn for the hotel, condo and open-space development have unearthed a 19th-century flour mill that operated when a thriving, independent Brooklyn was the region’s bread basket.

Indeed, uncovering the former Jewell Brothers’ mill, which stood from 1830s until 1910 at the foot of what was then called Fulton Street, but is now Old Fulton Street, is a metaphor for Brooklyn’s decline.

Read entire article at http://www.brooklynpaper.com