North Side Bank of Brooklyn, ca. 1978. The 1889 Romanesque Revival building by Theobald Engelhardt was the original location on the North Side Bank of Brooklyn. The bank was acquired by the Manufacturer’s Trust Bank in 1922. The Grand Street branch shuttered during the 20th century, as Manufacturer’s Trust went through a series of mergers, eventually becoming part of Chase Bank. In recent years, the building has been a retail location and event space; its weathered exterior continues to recall the rapidly-developing neighborhood’s industrial roots.

Williamsburgh Trust Company Building (later Holy Trinity Cathedral) Historic District ARCHITECT: Helmle, Huberty & Hudswell DATE: 1905-06 STYLE: Neo-Classical Completed in 1906, the Williamsburgh Trust Company Building is a monumental Neoclassical style bank building recalling Williamsburg’s industrial prosperity of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Designed by Helmle, Huberty & Hudswell, major Brooklyn architects who designed some of the borough’s most significant early-20th-century banks and park structures, it initially served as headquarters of the Williamsburgh Trust Company. It is a superlative example of the luxurious “banking temples” constructed in Manhattan and Brooklyn starting in the late 19th century, featuring classical porticos with acroteria on its two street facades, as well as a saucer dome recalling that of the Pantheon. Originally intended to stand in isolation, the building is remarkable for its four fully developed classical facades as well as its unusual facing material of white terra cotta. The building was acquired by the City of New York and from 1916 to 1958, it served as Magistrates’ Court for the Fifth District of Brooklyn. The building’s cross-shaped plan and central dome made it attractive for conversion to an Orthodox church, and in 1961, it was acquired by the Holy Ukrainian Autocephalic Orthodox Church in Exile, which renovated it to serve as its Holy Trinity Cathedral. Since then, the church has diligently and sensitively maintained the building, enabling this lavish structure to endure as one of Williamsburg’s most prominent and imposing landmarks.

Children at play outside No. 213 North 7th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, April 26, 1915.

The former Novelty Theatre on Driggs Avenue, 1917. The theater was demolished in 1919, with an apartment building named Novelty Court built in its place. It was there that NYPD whistleblower Frank Serpico was shot in suspicious circumstances during a 1971 drug bust. Serpico, portrayed by Al Pacino in the film of the same name, was a vocal critic of the widespread corruption in the department.

112 South 3rd Street, adjoining the southeast corner of Berry Street, showing the old Brooklyn Hospital and Dispensary. It first appears on an 1886 atlas of the City of Brooklyn. Sperr refers to it as "The Relief," probably referring to it being used, at this time, as a station of the Home Relief Bureau. May 1, 1936.

Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. August 9, 1935. The Lombardian Romanesque Roman Catholic Church was completed in 1870. Originally a German parish, the church was purchased by a coalition of Lithuanian Catholics in 1914. Today, the church provides English, Lithuanian, and Spanish-language services.

33-35 Grand Street, ca. 1978. Built in 1889 by Theobald Engelhardt, a Brooklyn architect who mostly worked in Williamsburg and Bushwick, this Romanesque Revival style building was the first location for the newly chartered North Side Savings Bank. Smaller in size than many of Brooklyn's other banks from this time period, the bank fit in with the industrial and commercial feel of the neighborhood. The bank was particularly successful, garnering clients not only from the local industries but also using their location right near the ferry terminal to attract commuters. The bank became a part of the Manufacturer’s Trust Bank in 1922. Manufacturer's Trust, through various mergers and renaming, is today J.P. Morgan Chase. The little building became a new branch of the larger bank in 1992 but closed sometime in the mid century. The building has been a clothing store, a hip barber shop, and an event space in recent years. There is a large, renovated apartment on the second floor. Despite the drastic changes that Williamsburg has seen in the last two decades, this building, with its darkened rough cut stone facade and pressed metal pediment, has remained largely the same as when this photograph was taken, and likely for much of its history.

261 Bedford Avenue, ca. 1923. Though called the Greenpoint Bathhouse in a number of sources, this building is firmly located in Williamsburg. Design by Henry Bacon, architect of the Lincoln Memorial in D.C., the structure was opened in 1922. Saved from demolition in 1983 by an intrepid city Parks and Recreation Commissioner named Henry J. Stern, the facility remains a community pool and recreation center. The ceiling above the pool is a striking peaked skylight surrounded by a pressed copper ceiling. The entire building, including the natatorium, had a major renovation in the late 1990s.