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
#192 Haunted Landmarks of New York
#191 The Great Fire of 1776
#190 The Curious Case of Typhoid Mary
#189 TAXI: History of the New York City Taxicab
#188: The Murder of Stanford White
#187: Super City: New York and the History of Comic Books
#186 Hell's Kitchen: New York's Wild West
#185 Adventures on Governors Island
#184 The Flatiron Building: A Story from Three Sides
#183 Orchard Street: Life in the Lower East Side
#182 Mae West: "Sex" on Broadway
#181 Park Slope and the Story of Brownstone Brooklyn
#180 The Chelsea Piers and the Age of the Ocean Liner
#179 The Fight for Bryant Park
#178: The Crystal Palace: America's First World's Fair
#177 The Big History of Little Italy
#176 Billie Holiday's New York
#175 Bowery Boys 2014 Year In Review
#174 American Kicks: A History of the Rockettes
#173 Ruins of the World's Fair: New York State Pavilion
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Best Song Podcast
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
The Rest Is History
American Scandal