Merchants of Williamsburgh

Over the latter half of the nineteenth century, the quiet village of Williamsburgh transformed into the epicenter of sugar refining with as many as seven refineries operating on this one-mile stretch of Brooklyn's East River waterfront. In Merchants of Williamsburgh Harry W. Havemeyer tells the story of his forebears-William Dick, Frederick C. Havemeyer Jr., H. O. Havemeyer, and John Mollenhauer-who were the principal figures in the transformation of Williamsburgh and whose lives intersected in often surprising ways. First published in 1989, Merchants of Williamsburgh originally concluded with a neighborhood in decline and has been updated in this edition to reflect the current revitalization of Williamsburgh and repurposing of its industrial history into a bustling residential neighborhood.