New housing developments constructed under the Federal Housing Act. July 23, 1937. The nearest building at left is 185 Scholes Street. The 2003 Landmarks Preservation Commission Designation Report notes that the Williamsburg Houses (formerly the Ten Eyck Houses) “are notable as one of the earliest housing developments in the United States to reflect the ideas of the modern movement in architecture.” In April, 1937, the former Bauhaus director Walter Gropius observed “\[the plan] seems to have solved the problem of space and light very successfully and economically.” Development began in 1935 and would require the demolition of some 568 buildings and the relocation of 5,400 neighborhood residents. In September, 1937, residents moved into the first of 1,620 low-rent units. History has been kind to the Williamsburg Houses’ modernist design; in 2000, the American Institute of Architects Guide to New York called the development “the best public housing project ever built in New York.”

The Williamsburg Houses were the largest and most expensive project built under the auspices of the PWA at their completion in 1937. The complex was realized by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and received funding from the Federal Public Works Administration (PWA). An American Institute of Architectures regards the Williamsburg Houses as “the best public housing project ever built in New York." According to plans from 1935, the project cost a total of 12.5 million dollars to complete. Siting for the property was decided by a slum clearance committee, which was formed in 1933 under the PWA to study housing conditions throughout the city. The committee decided "where the most good could be done in wholesale clearance work," eventually settling on a nine-block area bound by the street of Maujer, Scholes, and Leonard and Bushwick Avenue as an optimal clean slate to build the Williamsburg Houses.

In October 1929, the prosperous Roaring Twenties crashed to an end. In the 1920s the Stock Market boomed. Shares in companies soared and millions of ordinary Americans invested their life savings, in the hopes of turning a profit. Some people even began taking out loans in order to invest in the Stock Market. While things looked good on the surface, the 1920s were plagued by deeper economic issues. Industrial production declined, unemployment crept upwards, and the agricultural sector struggled. The Stock Market bubble popped on what became known as "Black Tuesday." The sudden drop in value of stocks led to billions of dollars in lost revenue. Many banks shuttered as a result. This fueled panic among Americans who rushed to the banks to withdraw their lifesavings. Before the Great Depression, people's money in the bank was not insured. If the bank closed, people lost all of their savings! So many people went to the banks looking for their money and many banks simply did not have enough cash on hand to meet the demand. In a chain reaction of events, people lost their jobs, life's savings, and homes. From 1929 throughout the 1930s, the Great Depression wrecked havoc on the lives of Americans, and New Yorkers in particular. It would take the immense industrial demand of WWII and a dramatic increase in government regulation and spending to really get the United States out of this economic rut. During this decade of depression, Americans' lives transformed dramatically. New York Social Studies Scope and Sequence Standards 8.5b,c, & 11.7c. For Teachers: Great Depression Lesson Plan

From mansions to tenements, when it comes to housing, New York has it all. This New York Public Library collection examines housing in New York since the mid-19th century, with a particular focus on vernacular and wood-frame structures across the five boroughs.

Congress Brewing Company Building, 1916. The complex of the Congress Brewing Company included a brewery and ice plant and encompassed 75,000 square feet of floor space. Established as the Williamsburgh Brewing Company before 1881, the beer purveyors legally changed their name to the Congress Brewing Company in 1895. Little can be discovered about Congress Brewery or why it closed circa 1916.