Poppenhusen Branch, QPL, SB, PS

In 1854, Conrad Poppenhusen moved his Enterprise Rubber Works plant to College Point from Manhattan. At the time, this small peninsula on Flushing Bay was three small separate neighborhoods, one of which was already called College Point. It was named after the short-lived St. Paul’s College which was located here for twelve years, between 1836 and 1848.

Mr. Poppenhusen was another of New York’s many successful German immigrants. He came to the United States in 1843, and began his career in the whalebone business, processing the flexible straining bones from the baleen whale. The whalebone was strong but flexible, and was used for many applications, including women’s corsets, something worn by millions of women in the Western World. But the baleen whale had been hunted almost to extinction by the mid-1800s, and a new source of whalebone-like material was needed. Poppenhusen turned to Charles Goodyear’s vulcanized “hard” rubber process.

He bought the license to manufacture Goodyear’s vulcanized rubber, and began manufacturing all kinds of products, including whalebone stays, caster wheels, brushes and combs, and more. As the business expanded, Poppenhusen needed more room than was available in Manhattan, and so moved just across the river to Queens. He built his new factory, and then set about building up College Point as a company town.

Most of his workers were German, like himself. They followed him over to Queens from Manhattan, or immigrated directly to Queens. Poppenhusen believed in taking care of his workers, and knew that whatever he could provide to make their living conditions better would reflect in dedication and greater productivity at work. Besides, Mr. Poppenhusen was a naturally generous and munificent man.

He had the marshes drained, graded the land, and had sewers, water and gas lines laid. He had the streets and sidewalks paved, and planted trees. He built worker’s housing. He financed the building of the First Reformed Church and the Poppenhusen Institute. The latter was a community hall that at various times housed the Justice of the Peace, the Sheriff’s office, a courthouse and a jail.

The Institute was also home to the first kindergarten in the United States, established in 1870. The hall was home for the local saengerbunds; German singing clubs, the College Point Savings Bank, and the town’s first library. Mr. Poppenhusen decreed that anyone, no matter what their race, creed or color, was welcome at his Poppenhusen Institute, and could not be turned away.

The Flushing and Northside Railroad belonged to Poppenhusen, and he was one of the early owners of the Long Island Railroad, as well. He established his railway to connect College Point to the shore, where travelers could catch one of several ferries to Manhattan. All in all, Conrad Poppenhusen was an exceptional man; a tireless town leader and enlightened employer.

Unfortunately, when he got older and retired, he left his businesses to his two sons, who were none of those things. They managed to lose the family fortune within Conrad’s lifetime. He would spend his last years trying, rather successfully, to recoup part of that fortune. Conrad Poppenhusen died at home in College Point, in 1885.

Andrew Carnegie was another immigrant success story. In a life story that has become legend, this Scotsman come to America penniless, made millions in the steel business, and died in 1911, having given away one of the largest fortunes of his day. Carnegie believed the rich should live simply and give largely and charitably while they were still alive. He was largely self-educated, and was a voracious reader. He believed that anyone could better themselves if they had access to a library, where they could learn whatever they wanted from the volumes within.

In 1901, the Carnegie Foundation gave $5.2 million to New York City for its libraries across the five boroughs. This started a remarkable project that would go on to build 1,680 Carnegie libraries across the United States and another 800 plus in Canada, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere in the world. In NYC, Carnegie gave to the boroughs according to population. Since Queens was the least populated borough at the time, they got the least amount of money. The Queens Library trustees were able to go to Carnegie himself and present a plan that gave them more money, enabling the library to build seven of the eight libraries planned for the borough.

Carnegie was a smart man. He wasn’t going to do it all; he needed the cities and municipalities to do their share as well. He would pay for the buildings, but the city would have to buy or acquire the land, buy the books, and provide for maintenance and upkeep, in perpetuity. Carnegie helped set up the library commissions and boards.

The boards picked some of the best architects of their day to design the libraries. The architects would all work within certain guidelines to insure a Carnegie “look,” inside and out. The Queens committee picked the firm of Heins & LaFarge as one of their choices. The duo ended up designing only one branch, the Poppenhusen Branch, here in College Point. They designed a Carnegie Library that was also a quintessential Heins & LaFarge building, as well.

Heins & LaFarge designed some of the city’s most familiar architecture. One of their first projects would be their largest and most well-known; the design for the original Cathedral of St. John the Divine, begun in 1892. Their contribution to the cathedral can be seen in the two chapels, the choir, and part of the crossing. The firm of Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson completed the rest of the building that we see today. They followed St. John’s up with many other churches, as well as a number of exclusive townhouses and mansions in Manhattan, and later, the original buildings of the Bronx Zoo.

They also got the commission to design for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, the earliest lines on today’s subway system. They designed both the station houses on the street, and the subway platforms below. Only a few survive today, including the station houses at 72nd and Broadway, Bowling Green, and Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues in Brooklyn. Their most magnificent station was the now closed City Hall station, with its soaring vaulted tile ceilings, and opulent fittings.

George Heins and Christopher LaFarge were educated at MIT, where they met and struck up a friendship. Both would go on to apprentice at the offices of Henry Hobson Richardson, one of the late 19th century’s most important architects. They both moved to NYC afterwards, and opened up a practice. Christopher LaFarge was the son of artist John LaFarge, one of the great masters of late 19th century stained glass works. He was the principle designer, while George Heins was on site, as project manager.

Carnegie Libraries were purposefully placed in communities that already had a library of some sort, assuring a ready customer base. College Point had the Poppenhusen Institute, which housed a small library. Carnegie Libraries also had to be located in prime areas, easily accessible and quite visible on the street. The College Point community held a fund raising drive to buy the land. School children gave their pennies, over 400 neighbors donated, and every employee of the India Rubber Company donated a dollar. College Point was the poster child for Carnegie’s library plan – a building that was truly wanted by the entire community.

The library would be built near a park, a school, and a few blocks from the Poppenhusen Institute. Heins & LaFarge designed a classic suburban-style Carnegie Library, a brick and limestone Beaux-Arts building. It’s two stories tall, and set back from the curb on a lawn. It’s similar to the basic plans of most of the Carnegie Libraries in Brooklyn and Queens. Like all Carnegie Libraries, this one has a prominent front entrance, reached by a set of stairs. Andrew Carnegie wanted people to enter all of his libraries this way, symbolizing an ascent to learning and knowledge.

The architects of all of the Carnegie Libraries also consulted with actual librarians, and so the interiors are designed with function as well as form in mind. Carnegie wanted a central circulation desk, large open reading rooms with plenty of natural light, and open stacks. Readers could browse through the stacks, finding not only what they may be searching for, but other volumes, and other adventures. This was especially important for the children. He didn’t want the books to be kept behind walls and doled out; readers had to be free to explore the world through books.

Heins & LaFarge’s building is actually reminiscent of the administration building and other structures at the Bronx Zoo. The size and shape match many other libraries but it is unique to all of the city’s Carnegie Libraries, with distinctive ornament around the entrance, a heavy cornice and broad window enframements, and a delightful hipped roof.

The only requirements the citizens of College Point put upon the Carnegie Foundation was that the new library be named after Conrad Poppenhusen, which it was. When the building was completed, in 1904, the thousands of volumes of books from the Institute’s library were transferred here, along with new books. The library has been in continuous use ever since. In the 1930s, WPA funds were used to enlarge the library. A new addition was built in the back which housed a new children’s reading room.

After World War II, a memorial to Queens’ war dead was placed in the front yard. New windows and doors were put in towards the end of the 20th century, and in the 21st century, upgrades were made to systems, and computers were added. The library now has a large number of volumes in Chinese to accommodate a new population of readers. Conrad Poppenhusen would have been proud of his community’s efforts. In 2000, the library was designated as an individual landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The library is located at 121-27 14th Avenue, near College Point Boulevard.

(Photograph:Scott Bintner for Property Shark)

GMAP

Photograph: Wallyg for Flickr
Photograph: Wallyg for Flickr

What's Your Take? Leave a Comment