Montauk Club Palimpsest

Recently some of the photographs taken circa 1970 during the push to establish the original Park Slope Historic District (designated July 17, 1973) have come into our hands, and one of our committee members scanned some of them.

The cars look different; trees grow; businesses come and go. Generations come and go! But the buildings, happily, remain largely the same.

Below we see 103-105 Lincoln Place, just above 6th Avenue, photographed circa 1970 during the first Historic District campaign, and again in 2008 during our current campaign. (We photographed all of Park Slope in 2008 to facilitate the LPC's research, and to help make the case that the undesignated portions are just as historic as the designated portions.)

103-105 Lincoln Place, circa 1970

103-105 Lincoln Place, Park Slope Historic District, 2008

Just about the only difference is the large tree that has grown up in the intervening years.

The view below, of the east side of 8th Avenue, looks much the same now. One can make out the Montauk Club and #1 Plaza Street West in the distance:

8th Avenue, east side, looking north toward Lincoln Place, circa 1970

Below is an interesting view of 7th Avenue between Lincoln Place and Berkeley Place. The corner building on right today houses the Santa Fe Grill. The projecting storefront on the left was the "Shamrock Bar" circa 1970:

7th Avenue, west side, Lincoln Place to Berkeley Place, circa 1970

60 7th Avenue, Park Slope Historic District, 2008

The street light seems to be a relatively recent addition to this corner.

The photograph below shows the north side of Lincoln Place between 8th Avenue and Plaza Street West; the Montauk Club is on the left:

Montauk Club, Park Slope, circa 1970

The lion (or is it a griffin?), holding a shield embossed with the club's initials, was apparently an original feature of the decorative fence. Our memories of this corner date to 1990, but we recall no lion ever having been there. Was the lion stolen? Taken away for safekeeping?

We walked past the corner recently to see if there were any sign or palimpsest of the lion's presence. Indeed, this corner's fence post differs from all the others -- it alone lacks the small pedestal on which the lion once stood. All the other posts have at least the pedestal.