Lost Park Slope: John H. Hanan Residence

Our recent "Lost Park Slope" featured the Romanesque Revival residence of John H. Hanan, a wealthy shoe manufacturer in Brooklyn. The residence was designed in 1890 by C. P. H. Gilbert and stood at the northwest corner of 8th Avenue and Carroll Street until the mid-1930s.

John H. Hanan Residence - 118 8th Avenue
C. P. H. Gilbert, architect - 1890
Demolished circa 1935

Architectural historian Christopher Gray discussed this house in a 2003 "Streetscapes" column devoted to C. P. H. Gilbert:

Another element crept into Gilbert's work about this time -- the lacy forms, decorated gables and lighter stone, often limestone, of late French Gothic. One of the first was a mansion for the shoe dealer John Hanan at Carroll Street and Eighth Avenue in Park Slope, around 1890. The Hanan house, demolished in the 1930's, still had the heavy, rock-faced stone common to the Romanesque revival of the 1880's, but period photographs indicate that the masonry was of a much lighter cast than the usual brownstone and, more significantly, was detailed with delicate French Gothic detail in limestone at the doorway and roof line.

John Henry Hanan was the "son" of the firm of Hanan & Son shoes, a highly successful shoe manufacturer here in Brooklyn started by his father, James. The firm built a shoe factory in Brooklyn that still stands in the DUMBO Historic District:

Hanan & Son Shoe Factory
54 Bridge Street, DUMBO Historic District

According to the DUMBO Historic District's Designation Report:

Hanan & Son. Shoe manufacturer with a major complex on Bridge Street between Water and Front Streets erected between 1893 and 1905. Hanan, with 1,131 employees in 1913,was, by far, the largest shoe manufacturer in Brooklyn...

...Hanan initially announced construction of a seven-story structure; he actually built a five-story factory. Even before purchasing the DUMBO property, James Hanan was a resident of Brooklyn, living in a large mansion at 45 Eighth Avenue (demolished) in Park Slope. James Hanan (1819-1897) was born in Ireland and learned the shoe trade from his father. In 1849 he moved to America and in 1854 established a small shoemaking business in New York City. In about 1865, his son, John Henry Hanan (1849-1920), entered his father’s firm, and in 1882 the company became Hanan & Son. The Hanan Company was among the first to stamp the firm’s name on every shoe, a daring idea at a time when most people still sought shoes handmade by the dealer. The firm was successful and in 1888 Hanan began opening retail stores to sell the factory’s product directly to consumers.

1884 advert from Puck

The mansion stood until about 1935, when it was demolished to make way for the present structure, an 11-story apartment building begun in 1936:

118 8th Avenue - 1936
Park Slope Historic District

Documentary History published

The first edition of our Documentary History of the Park Slope Historic District Expansion Study Area is now published on the web.

This document compiles all of the historic documentation that our intrepid band of volunteer researchers has been able to uncover so far about the historic unprotected buildings in Park Slope. We have been posting this same material in the photo comments of our comprehensive photo survey of Park Slope. But this new document consolidates all this information into a single place. We will continue to maintain both the photo captions and this document as new research comes into our hands.

In many cases, we have multiple citations for the same group of buildings, and it is interesting to note how the different citations complement each other. Consider the following citations for the same row of houses on Prospect Place. The first is from the American Architect and Building News, while the second is from the Brooklyn Eagle:

54-64 Prospect Place - unprotected

54-64 Prospect Place

"Building Intelligence; Houses; Brooklyn, N. Y.," AABN vol. 21, no. 599 (Jun. 18, 1887): p. xiii.

– "Prospect Pl., s s, 103' w Sixth Ave., 6 three-st’y and basement brown-stone dwells., tin roofs; cost, $8,000; owner, Theresa B. Collins, 359 Sixth St.; architect, C. P. H. Gilbert."

On Prospect Place, near Sixth avenue, Mr. F. B. Collins will build six three story and basement brick residences, 16.8x45, for one family in each, to cost $48,000. -Brooklyn Eagle, June 11, 1887, p. 2 ("Up Again").

The AABN listing is very specific with regard to location; includes the address of the developer; and also includes the architect's name. The Eagle citation seems to have mistaken the first initial and gender of the developer. However the Eagle's citation includes the buildings' dimensions.

We have tried to minimize "interpretation" of these findings and to let the documentary record speak for itself. Assigning the citations to present-day addresses is, of course, itself an interpretation.

C. P. H. Gilbert, the distinguished architect of this beautiful row of Queen Anne houses, also designed many of the buildings in Montgomery Place and Carroll Street within the current Historic District.