Ansonia Clock Company Tragedy

Source: Brooklyn Public Library

We were very saddened to hear about the death of the worker at the Ansonia Clock Company in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the worker’s family and friends. This posting in Brownstoner gives some links to news sources about the death.

A quick jaunt through history shows that the Ansonia is not new to tragedy. A NYT article dated October 28, 1880 highlights an earlier disaster on the site.

The building was purchased in 1877 to expand its operations into Brooklyn, NY from its main operations in Connecticut. Three years after the factory was purchased, the building burnt to the ground in a large fire.

You can read the full details of the fire in this NYT article. Here is an excerpt:

“Neither the building nor anything in it escaped the destruction. The loss is estimated at from $750,000 to $1,000,000. About 1,200 hands, including men women, and girls are thrown out of employment. The company intends to rebuild, but it has not yet been decided whether or not the site will be in Brooklyn. Several firemen were slightly burned in attempting to get near the fire with a hose, and the paint on several of the engines was shriveled up by the intense heat. The fire was the largest that had occurred in Brooklyn in several years.”

The company decided to rebuild the factory on the same site and it was completed in 1881.

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