FDNY and NYC Firehouses and Fire Companies - 2nd Section
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ENGINE 205/LADDER 118 FIREHOUSE 74-76 MIDDAGH STREET BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN DIVISION 11, BATTALION 32 “FIRE UNDER THE BRIDGE"
MIDDAGH STREET
Middagh Street is another one of those Brooklyn Streets you rely on intuition for the pronunciation. My best guess is Mid-dah, as if the g wasn’t there, like Erin Go Bragh. My intuition has failed me before, as my pronunciations of JOR-a-lemon and COR-tel-you will demonstrate. And I say Luquer Street is LU-ker, while others say lu-QUEER.
Middagh runs east to west, from just west of Willow east to Cadman Plaza West. The endpoints used to be Columbia Heights and Fulton Street, but are no longer, for reasons to be discussed. When walking north in Brooklyn Heights, it’s the first street after the fructiferous trio of Pineapple, Orange and Cranberry.
Carbohydrate-conscious dieters will feel right at home in Brooklyn Heights as a fruit salad of thoroughfares welcomes them. According to one story, a little old lady, who would have worn tennis shoes had they been invented, is responsible for their names, a century and a half before little old ladies started wearing tennis shoes.
Before the IRT subway arrived in 1908 Brooklyn Heights was one of the more secluded areas in Brooklyn that only the very wealthy could afford (rather like today). Jealousies and disputes arose among the moneyed gentry. The story goes, as recorded by the WPA Guide to New York, that in the decade prior to the Civil War, a local resident, whose name is given as Miss Middagh, resented her aristocratic neighbors and tore down the street signs bearing the names of the offending families and hastily installed signs bearing the names of her favorite fruit and trees, Pineapple, Orange, Cranberry and Willow. When Brooklyn city authorities restored the original street names, Miss Middagh struck again and changed them back. This tug-of-war eventually resolved itself in the lady’s favor with the streets retaining plant names to this day.
The more likely story is that they were simply named by early-19th century landowners the Hicks Brothers, John and Jacob. Each brother bore the middle name Middagh, their mother’s maiden name. There is a Middagh Street and, of course, a Hicks Street in Brooklyn Heights. An 1816 map of Brooklyn Village compiled by Jeremiah Lott, as well as William Hooker’s Pocket Plan of 1827, show the three streets in question as Pineapple, Orange and Cranberry. It’s likely, therefore, that the amusing tale of Miss Middagh is apocryphal. But it does make for an amusing yarn.
https://forgotten-ny.com/2013/09/mi... story is,Middagh, their mother's maiden name.
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS
Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, and the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway or the East River on the west.[5] Adjacent neighborhoods are Dumbo to the north, Downtown Brooklyn to the east, and Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill to the south.
Originally referred to as Brooklyn Village, it has been a prominent area of Brooklyn since 1834.
Brooklyn Heights - Wikipedia
FDNY FIREHOUSES
MIDDAGH STREET
Middagh Street is another one of those Brooklyn Streets you rely on intuition for the pronunciation. My best guess is Mid-dah, as if the g wasn’t there, like Erin Go Bragh. My intuition has failed me before, as my pronunciations of JOR-a-lemon and COR-tel-you will demonstrate. And I say Luquer Street is LU-ker, while others say lu-QUEER.
Middagh runs east to west, from just west of Willow east to Cadman Plaza West. The endpoints used to be Columbia Heights and Fulton Street, but are no longer, for reasons to be discussed. When walking north in Brooklyn Heights, it’s the first street after the fructiferous trio of Pineapple, Orange and Cranberry.
Carbohydrate-conscious dieters will feel right at home in Brooklyn Heights as a fruit salad of thoroughfares welcomes them. According to one story, a little old lady, who would have worn tennis shoes had they been invented, is responsible for their names, a century and a half before little old ladies started wearing tennis shoes.
Before the IRT subway arrived in 1908 Brooklyn Heights was one of the more secluded areas in Brooklyn that only the very wealthy could afford (rather like today). Jealousies and disputes arose among the moneyed gentry. The story goes, as recorded by the WPA Guide to New York, that in the decade prior to the Civil War, a local resident, whose name is given as Miss Middagh, resented her aristocratic neighbors and tore down the street signs bearing the names of the offending families and hastily installed signs bearing the names of her favorite fruit and trees, Pineapple, Orange, Cranberry and Willow. When Brooklyn city authorities restored the original street names, Miss Middagh struck again and changed them back. This tug-of-war eventually resolved itself in the lady’s favor with the streets retaining plant names to this day.
The more likely story is that they were simply named by early-19th century landowners the Hicks Brothers, John and Jacob. Each brother bore the middle name Middagh, their mother’s maiden name. There is a Middagh Street and, of course, a Hicks Street in Brooklyn Heights. An 1816 map of Brooklyn Village compiled by Jeremiah Lott, as well as William Hooker’s Pocket Plan of 1827, show the three streets in question as Pineapple, Orange and Cranberry. It’s likely, therefore, that the amusing tale of Miss Middagh is apocryphal. But it does make for an amusing yarn.
https://forgotten-ny.com/2013/09/mi... story is,Middagh, their mother's maiden name.
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS
Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, and the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway or the East River on the west.[5] Adjacent neighborhoods are Dumbo to the north, Downtown Brooklyn to the east, and Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill to the south.
Originally referred to as Brooklyn Village, it has been a prominent area of Brooklyn since 1834.
Brooklyn Heights - Wikipedia
FDNY FIREHOUSES
ENGINE 315/LADDER 125 FIREHOUSE 159-06 UNION TURNPIKE, JAMAICA QUEENS DIVISION 13, BATTALION 50 "THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH"
Engine 315 organized 159-06 Union Turnpike 1929
Ladder 75 organized 91-45 121st Street former volunteer firehouse 1907
Ladder 75 moved 91-62 111th Street at Hose 2 1912
Ladder 75 became Ladder 125 1913
Ladder 125 new firehouse 91-45 121st Street with Engine 270 1913
Ladder 125 moved 159-06 Union Turnpike at Engine 315 1953
Engine 315 organized 159-06 Union Turnpike 1929
Ladder 75 organized 91-45 121st Street former volunteer firehouse 1907
Ladder 75 moved 91-62 111th Street at Hose 2 1912
Ladder 75 became Ladder 125 1913
Ladder 125 new firehouse 91-45 121st Street with Engine 270 1913
Ladder 125 moved 159-06 Union Turnpike at Engine 315 1953
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ENGINE 315/LADDER 125 FIREHOUSE 159-06 UNION TURNPIKE, JAMAICA QUEENS DIVISION 13, BATTALION 50 "THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH"
PRE-FDNY VOLUNTEER ERA
Ladder 125 was organized as Ladder 75 in former volunteer firehouse of Richmond Hill Engine 1
91-45 121st Street (847 Spruce Street) 1907
Ladder 75 (Ladder 125) relocated to Hose 2 FDNY (became Engine 293) in former volunteer firehouse of Clarenceville Ladder 2
91-62 111th Street 1912
111th Street firehouse:
RICHMOND HILL FIRE DEPARTMENT
Richmond Hill Fire Department had 2 engine companies, 4 hose companies and 3 ladder companies which disbanded in 1907 and was replaced by FDNY
PRE-FDNY VOLUNTEER ERA
Ladder 125 was organized as Ladder 75 in former volunteer firehouse of Richmond Hill Engine 1
91-45 121st Street (847 Spruce Street) 1907
Ladder 75 (Ladder 125) relocated to Hose 2 FDNY (became Engine 293) in former volunteer firehouse of Clarenceville Ladder 2
91-62 111th Street 1912
111th Street firehouse:
RICHMOND HILL FIRE DEPARTMENT
Richmond Hill Fire Department had 2 engine companies, 4 hose companies and 3 ladder companies which disbanded in 1907 and was replaced by FDNY
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