FISKE TERRACE LAMP

“In 1905, T. B. Ackerson Company purchased a densely wooded tract of land and immediately cleared it, laid out streets and installed underground water, sewer, gas and electric lines. Eighteen months later, the former estate belonging to oil merchant George P. Fiske had been transformed by some 150 custom-built, detached, three-story suburban houses with heavy oak ornamental mantels, staircases, beamed ceilings and built-in bookcases, ornately bordered parquet floors and elaborate cabinetry. A landscaped median and hundreds of street trees planted at the time of development continue to contribute to the idyllic feeling of the neighborhood.” Historic Districts Council 

The original Ackerson real estate office building, a simple, one-story cabin with a porch, has been preserved and is now the entrance of the northbound Brighton Line station at Avenue H (Q train) at East 16th Street.

Fiske Terrace came to encompass almost the entire area bounded by Glenwood Road (then known as Avenue G) on the north, the old Manhattan Beach Railroad tracks just south of Avenue H on the south, the Brighton Beach Railroad on the west, and Ocean Avenue on the east.

Bill Mangahas of NYC Transit Calendar fame tipped me off that in the 1940s, the streets of Fiske Terrace had a unique lamppost arrangement, at least along Avenue H. Above is a photo of the SE corner of Avenue H and East 18th Street in 1940, and you can see a regulation Type B park post topped by a lyre-like structure with a suspended globe luminaire. Other examples have a bit more metalwork at the top, but all are similar to this one.

They probably got wiped out when octagonal shafts arrived in the Fab Fifties.

Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop, and as always, “comment…as you see fit.”

2/6/19