Author Archives: Caitlin McManus

Something interesting about the residents of Vinegar Hill

During today’s class, I came across a document through ProQuest that was pretty interesting and Professor Joelson thought it would be a good idea for me to share it with the class. Because my group is focusing in the preservation and development of Vinegar Hill, our hypothesis is along the lines of the residents of Vinegar Hill opposing the development of the neighborhood. With that, I was focused on finding articles about the residents and how they feel about development. The article I found is so strong in the opposition of development that a man is even opposed to trees being planted on his block. Please feel free to read this attached document: vinegar-hill_neighborhood-identity-crisis_new-york-times-MCMANUS

By, S. S. (1999, Jun 09). A neighborhood identity crisis. New York Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/110141177?accountid=28313

Blog 1 | Digitally Archived Material | McManus

After the class on Monday, I realized transportation is a vital aspect to development of any neighborhood. I initially thought that I would only find a few transportation lines near vinegar hill. I thought this simply because there doesn’t seem to be much development in the present day. After seeing the transportation map which was originally published by the Brooklyn Eagle in 1905, I was surprised to see how  developed Brooklyn was with seam railroads, elevated railroads, cable railroads, and trolly and horse railroads. I was even more surprised to see the proposed subway lines though. Because I originally assumed transportation guides development, I think that in Brooklyn, development shaped the need for transportation. Moving forward I would like to look into the neighborhoods where the proposed subway trails are, maybe I will answer my own question or strengthen my theory of development. As for Vinegar Hill, I feel like it has always been a forgotten chunk of land. In this map it only shows one line of transportation, although it does not show which kind, I am assuming a trolley system. That as well needs more research.

Transportation map of Brooklyn 1905

Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “Transportation map of Brooklyn, Improvements shown on verso (separate sheet.)” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1905. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/09f48090-cf88-012f-34c8-58d385a7bbd0