TODAY, Sunset Park, located fairly neatly between the Brooklyn waterfront, 10th Avenue/Fort Hamilton Parkway, 39th and 65th Streets, is divided fairly neatly between a Latino/Hispanic section nearer the water and an Asian/Chinese section east of about 7th Avenue. However, a group of people who immigrated from a different part of the world occupied the area in the 20th Century: the Scandinavians, from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Indeed, Scandinavian influences can be detected, if you know where to look, as far south as Bay Ridge and as far north as Brooklyn Heights. Scandinavians flocked to waterside and dock jobs in the U.S. and lived in homes near the waterside.
For example, the blocks between 40th and 44th Streets near 8th Avenue were home to a substantial Finnish population. Finland is in Scandinavia (with Norway, Sweden and Denmark), but its language is from a different root and is unlike Danish, Swedish or Norwegian. In Finland, the country is called Suomi; the word doesn’t resemble other Scandinavian country names’ English counterparts such as Sverige, Norge and Danmark.
When I passed this 4-story building on 4th Avenue and 51st Street awhile ago, I didn’t know what I had found. There were chiseled signs on the avenue side: “4th Avenue,” “Parkway”, “Garage” and “1907.” However, in a Facebook group called “Everyone Who Loves Brooklyn,” I discovered that this was called Scandia Hall and it hosted meetings and parties catering to the Norwegians in the neighborhood. After several years of moribundity it is being redeveloped. Since it still looks remarkably like when it was built in 1907, I hope they don’t change it much.
Looking at the old photo, its identity as a garage is easier to discern, with two large arched doors. “Parkway” likely referred to the word in its literal sense, a place to park. Automobiles were still rather rare in 1907, so the garage is truly an artifact. The building also hosted a car dealership and furniture store in its later years.
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12/5/23
9 comments
Finnish isn’t even part of the Indo-European language family.
It has more to do with Hungarian, even though it’s nowhere near Hungary.
Finnish and Hungarian are part of the Uralic language family, which also includes Estonian as well as various languages spoken by Samoyed peoples living across Siberia. Ancestors of Finns, Hungarians and Estonians migrated over time from the Uralic-Siberian regions of modern Russia to their current homelands. So today’s large population migrations are really nothing new!
Great post. But please, Sunset Park’s boundaries are waterfront to 8th Avenue, Prospect Expressway (17th St) to old LIRR tracks (65th St). While this may seem unimportant it is very important as “co-terminality” which many of us fought for for years has now aligned delivery of city services with these boundaries. So if you want to contact your local precinct or deal with sanitation services and health services this is important. Even more important is the representation by the Community Board and also the City allots money to the community based on these boundaries.
This is minor – but I think “parkway” refers to 4th Avenue. It was quite the boulevard back in the day with the center median planted with bushes & trees – it was a parkway.
Thank you, TeeGee for making it clear where the boundaries of Sunset Park really are.
Why Finland is considered “culturally” Scandinavian is that the Norsemen conquered and ruled the south coast of Finland for centuries, and while the locals continued to speak Finnish, they did adopt Christianity (once the Norse had also done so) and adopted many Norse customs.
Finland itself (the country not the location) is somewhat of a modern construct. For years it was ruled as an extension of Sweden, and then ruled by the Russians until 1917. Later, to ‘protect’ St, Petersburg / Leningrad, the Russians took back the Karelia region. Finland was the only country in WWII to defeat both the Russians and the Nazis to protect their own ground.
That is my old neighborhood. I used to belong to the Imatra on 40th street off 7th avenue. There was also the Sons of Norway on 59th. and fifth ave, I believe.
My understanding is, originally when Fourth Ave was planned, it was to be similar to Manhattan’s 4th Ave (now most of which is “Park” Avenue). Brooklyn’s Fourth Ave was referred to as “Fourth Avenue Parkway”. There are many references to this in the old Brooklyn Eagle Archives. It wasn’t until the street was dug up for the subway, removing all the original plantings, that the “Parkway” was dropped. So the building was indeed located on “4th Ave Parkway”. Ironically, with the new zoning of 4th Avenue comes with it new buildings, and the desire to make it less like a “highway” and more like “Boulevard”. Perhaps theyshould have kept the “Parkway” in the name of the street. It only would have taken 100 years to grow into it.