The Brooklyn Trust Company was a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

bank.

History

The company was chartered in 1866.Summary Of Statement January 1st 1907 To The State Banking Department
, ''

New-York Daily Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the dom ...

'', January 1, 1907, accessed June 26, 2011 In 1873 it had difficulties resulting in a brief suspension of operations. Between 1913 and 1930 the company acquired five other banks through mergers. The company merged into the

Manufacturers Trust Company Manufacturers Hanover Corporation was the bank holding company formed as parent of Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, a large New York bank formed by a merger in 1961. After 1969, Manufacturers Hanover Trust became a subsidiary of Manufac ...

on October 13, 1950. At the time of the merger the Brooklyn Trust Company had 26 branches. *

George Vincent McLaughlin George Vincent McLaughlin (May 20, 1887 – December 7, 1967) was superintendent of the New York State Banking Department in 1920. He was the New York City Police Commissioner from 1926 to 1927 and president of the Brooklyn Trust Company in 19 ...

was president of the Brooklyn Trust Company starting in 1940. *Charles Jeremiah Mason, Jr. (1899–1990) joined the Brooklyn Trust Company in 1939. He was an assistant vice-president at Brooklyn Trust Company when it merged with Manufacturers Hanover in 1950. He became an assistant vice-president at Manufacturers Hanover in 1953 and vice-president in 1955, retiring in 1964. *William Boone Nauts (1902–1990) joined the Brooklyn Trust Company in 1925. During the Depression he joined the Manufacturers Trust Company. He retired in 1967 as a vice-president of Manufacturers Hanover Trust.

Headquarters building

The former headquarters of the Brooklyn Trust Company is a historic bank building located at the corner of Montague and Clinton Streets in

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, ...

. The

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

-inspired headquarters was built between 1913 and 1916 by the architectural firm of

York and Sawyer York and Sawyer was an American architectural firm active between 1898 and 1949. The firms' work is exemplary of Beaux-Arts architecture as it was practiced in the United States. The partners Edward York (July 23, 1863– December 30, 1928) and ...

. It was modeled after the Palazzo della Gran Guardia in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

. ''Note:'' This includes an
''Accompanying 25 photographs''
The building was built on the same site as the bank's previous headquarters. Marc Eidlitz & Son Builders N.Y.C. constructed the building in two phases. The first half was begun at the corner of Clinton and Pierrepont Streets in late 1913 and was finished in September 1915. The second phase began in October 1915 and was completed in August 1916. The entire construction process was photographed monthly by Irving Underhill. The main interior space is inspired by ancient Roman and Italian Renaissance architecture. The banking hall has large chandeliers hanging from vaulted, coffered ceilings, arched windows, and a

Cosmati The Cosmati were a Roman family, seven members of which, for four generations, were skilful architects, sculptors and workers in decorative geometric mosaic, mostly for church floors. Their name is commemorated in the genre of Cosmatesque work ...

-style mosaic marble floor. The building was landmarked in 1996. The interior is also landmarked.Andrew Dolkart and Matthew A. Postal
''Guide to New York City Landmarks''
, New York: Landmarks Preservation Commission, pp. 232-233 It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2009. The building was sold for $9.7 million in 2007 by

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...

,Big Bank on Montague Street
, brownstoner.com, accessed June 27, 2011 the successor to the Brooklyn Trust Company through the Manufacturers Trust Company. It was bought by

Brookfield Asset Management Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is a Canadian multinational company that is one of the world's largest alternative investment management companies, with over US$725 billion of assets under management in 2022. It focuses on direct contro ...

who in turn sold it to Stahl Real Estate Company. The building is occupied primarily by a law firm but Chase Bank still leases the ground floor to maintain a retail banking branch.

Gallery

File:Lq-brooklyntrust-irving-underhill.jpg, 1916 File:Brooklyn Trust building Sept-29-1914 by Irving Underhill.jpg, Sept 1914 File:Brooklyn Trust building Oct-14-1914 by Irving Underhill.jpg, Oct 1914 File:Brooklyn Trust building Nov-16-1914 by Irving Underhill.jpg, Nov 1916 File:Brooklyn Trust building Dec 1914 by Irving Underhill.jpg, Dec 1914 File:Brooklyn Trust building Jan 1915 by Irving Underhill.jpg, Jan 1915 File:Feb 1915 Photo by Irving Underhill.jpg, Feb 1915 File:Mar 1915 Photo by Irving Underhill.jpg, Mar 1915 File:Apr 1915 Photo by Irving Underhill.jpg, Apr 1915 File:May 1915 Photo by Irving Underhill.jpg, May 1915

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Banks based in New York City JPMorgan Chase Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City Commercial buildings in Brooklyn Renaissance Revival architecture in New York City Commercial buildings completed in 1916 Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Dodgers owners Defunct banks of the United States National Register of Historic Places in Brooklyn New York City Designated Landmarks in Brooklyn New York City interior landmarks