I have a fascination, or perhaps even a slight problem, with short streets that emanate from longer streets that are named for the street they are on. It’s like a father naming his son after himself, as Junior. I have the same first and last name as my father, but I’m not a Junior, as his middle name was William O’Connor, and mine is Jude. Perhaps such fathers desire a carbon copy of themselves as a son, and are disappointed if that doesn’t happen.
I have never walked the length of Herkimer Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant but maybe I should try it (there’s a former ice cream factory on it). It’s a lengthy, mostly residential street, going from Bedford Avenue east to where Fulton Street and Broadway meet at Jewell Square. It’s wedged between the main commercial drag, Fulton, and Atlantic Avenue, which is shadowed by the elevated Long Island Rail Road for a stretch, but is home to a lot of auto repair shops, wholesalers and factories. Like most streets in the area, it’s named for a Revolutionary war figure, General Nicholas Herkimer (1718-1777). He was mortally wounded leading the patriots at an ambush during the Battle of Oriskany at Saratoga; one of the ambushers was his Loyalist brother, Johan.
Two other streets are named for Nicholas Herkimer, or rather, for Herkimer Street. One is Herkimer Place, which parallels Herkimer Street between Perry place and New York Avenue, and the other one is Herkimer Court, which is a dead end pedestrian pathway just east of PS 93 and its athletic field on New York Avenue. It’s lined with ten two-story brick residences, numbered #2 through 20, even numbers only. Could there have once been odd-numbered houses on the opposite side?
The Eternal Suzanne Spellen of Brownstoner has been on the case and her answer to that is no; however, this hidden courtyard has been here a long time. The court was developed by Edward Richmond Betts beginning in 1884, with Amzi Hill the architect. E.R. Betts was the son of Charles Betts, Secretary of the Brooklyn Railroad Company (that was ultimately part of the LIRR).
“Hat tip” to Sergey Kadinsky
Check out the ForgottenBook. As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site.
8/20/26
1 comment
If you do a Herkimer Street walk, be sure to check out the house at 1431 (NW corner of Sackman Street). Wood frame, two stories with attic, and a great front porch with decorative woodwork. Also, side yards. Definitely more of a small-town America feel about it.