POTW: Battle Ground of Golden Hill, January

Today's photo of the week strays across the river to the site of the Battle of Golden Hill at 122 William Street in Manhattan. The image was clipped in 1910 by Eugene Armbruster and presumably taken around that time. Armbruster was a German immigrant who lived in Bushwick and worked at the H. Henkel Cigar Box Manufacturing Company. Later, Armbruster became an amateur photographer and local historian. His scrapbooks are digitized and available online here.

As commemorations for the semiquincentennial begin, many commonplace sites around the city are being remembered for the battles that occurred on them. Some sites, like the one captured by Armbruster one hundred and forty years after its battle, have been built over and no longer have even a plaque noting their significance. The Battle of Golden Hill is considered the first battle of the Revolution and occurred in January 1770, before the Boston Massacre. Though no lives were lost, it is remembered as an early augur of the greater conflict to come. According to the Daily Eagle, 122 William St. was the address of the Golden Tree Inn. After the war, Washington Irving was born across the street at 121 William and later moved next door to the Inn.

Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal at Brooklyn Public Library. We welcome appointments to research our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.