209–215 3rd Avenue;
1919|

This building once functioned as the printing and distribution garage for the New York Daily News. The single story structure features vertical piers which break up the strong horizontal massing. The signage on the building reads “The News Brooklyn Garage” and features an image of a stylized camera. The News was once known as “New York’s Picture Newspaper” and continues to feature a camera as part of its logo to this day.

233 Nevins Street/236 Butler Street;
Early 20th century|

This building survives as a relic of the once prolific commodity of coal shipment on the Gowanus Canal. According to a transcription from Brooklyn Genealogy, “Lehigh and Scranton coals have no rivals as powerful heat producers and sustain combustion in a manner that insures the greatest economy as household and manufacturing fuels.” See also the Burns Brothers Coal Pockets on 2nd Avenue.

239–57 Butler Street/206 Nevins Street;
1914|

This four story factory was commissioned by Robert Graham Dun and completed by the Moyer Engineering and Construction Company in 1914. This reinforced concrete structure features decorative, blue terra-cotta detailing which contrasts with the overall gray-colored concrete materiality. The printing industry faded from this building in the 1960s and the use shifted to the manufacturing of plastic products. Subsequently, the building remained vacant for many years but has recently been zoned for residential use.

233 Butler Street;
Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker;
1913|

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals opened its Brooklyn headquarters here in 1913. The organization was formerly located in a basement at 114 Lawrence Street, and this building on Butler Street was the result of generous donations by wealthy philanthropists, including the Bowdoin and Schermerhorn families. When it was completed, it was larger than the Manhattan location and had a formal lobby and reception space. The roof design even included a terrace that functioned as a dog run. The ASPCA occupied this space until 1979, and the building has since been a musical-instrument repair shop.

209 Douglass Street;
1905–11|

The pumping house was constructed as part of the flushing system of the canal. It is still in use today, and the exterior remains largely intact despite the removal and reconstruction of much of the original equipment during the 1990s.