A remaining street sign for Hamburg Avenue remains chiseled into a building at Harman Street in Bushwick, close to the Myrtle Avenue el.
Bushwick in northeast Brooklyn used to be heavily German, and was home for breweries such as Schaefer and Rheingold as well as mansions owned by the brewmasters. Some of the mansions and breweries remain, put to different uses, some in better shape than others.
Some of the streets were named for German cities. However, when the USA entered World War I in 1917, the Germans were looked upon less favorably, to the extent that the street names were changed to something less offensive. Bremen Street became Stanwix Street, and in this case, Hamburg Avenue became Wilson Avenue, honoring Woodrow Wilson.
photo: Gary Fonville
1/21/15