Brooklyn, N.Y., Bureau of Sewers records
Call Number
Dates
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The collection consists of records of the Bureau of Sewers of the city and, after 1898, borough of Brooklyn, New York. The bulk of the collection includes documents supporting the assessments to be levied for sewer projects; the binders of this material include maps of the blocks and lots relevant to a sewer project, lists of property owners, and certifications. The bulk of these materials are from the twentieth century (circa 1900-1960), but there are also many binders from the late nineteenth century. There are a few assessment binders from prior to the 1880s, with the earliest dating from 1859. Other materials in the collection include blueprints of sewer projects and designs, field books concerning special sewer structures, notes on land valuation assessments, journals of work on particular projects, materials test results, and other matter. The bulk of this other material is from the early decades of the twentieth century, up to the 1930s. The latest material in the collection are excavation notices from the late-1980s.
Biographical / Historical
In the mid-19th century, the City of Brooklyn made a serious effort to tackle its sewage and waste problems. As with the rest of the United States, Brooklyn (as did Manhattan) lacked underground sewage systems. With the outbreak of cholera and other infectious diseases circa 1830, combined with an ever-rising population, the City of Brooklyn established a Board of Sewer Commissioners in 1857 to deal with its formidable sewage disposal problems. Still, sewage disposal consisted mostly of drainage, and it wasn't until the last quarter of the 19th century that the construction of underground sewage systems began in Brooklyn. With the consolidation of Flatbush and the other municipalities of Kings County into the borough of Brooklyn in the late 1800s, the expansion of the sewer system continued well into the twentieth century.
Arrangement
The collection is organized in the following series:
Missing Title
- Series 1: Assessment Binders
- Series 2: Division of Survey and Design Worksheets
- Series 3: Contract Administration Logsheets
- Series 4: Project Work Logs and Journals
- Series 5: Land Valuation Assessments
- Series 6: Blueprints
- Series 7: Field Books - Special Sewer Structures
- Series 8: Tests and Computations
- Series 9: Excavation Notices
- Series 10: Miscellaneous
Scope and Contents
The bulk of the collection includes documents supporting the assessments to be levied for sewer projects; the binders of this material include maps of the blocks and lots relevant to a sewer project, lists of property owners, and certifications. The bulk of the assessment binders are from the twentieth century (circa 1900-1960), but there are also many binders from the late nineteenth century. There are a few assessment binders from prior to the 1880s, with the earliest dating from 1859.
Other materials in the collection include blueprints of sewer projects and designs, field books concerning special sewer structures, notes on land valuation assessments, journals of work on particular projects, materials test results, and other matter. The bulk of this other material is from the early decades of the twentieth century, up to the 1930s. The latest material in the collection are excavation notices from the late-1980s.
Subjects
Organizations
Topics
Places
Conditions Governing Access
Open to researchers without restriction.
Conditions Governing Use
There are no conditions governing use of the collection.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); Brooklyn, N.Y., Bureau of Sewers records, ARC.235, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The sources of the accessions comprising the collection are not known.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
The majority of the materials in this collection are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org at least three weeks prior to research visit.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Several volunteers were responsible for processing the assessment binders (series 1), which comprise the bulk of the collection, between June 2011 and January 2012. Alison Bunis and Willy Gillespie did preparatory arrangement and photocopying work for the Transitional and Post-Consolidation binders. Alison also processed the Transitional Sub-series. A team of volunteers from the firm Goldman Sachs arranged much of the Post-Consolidation Sub-series and processed the bulk of the Ocean Front district binders. Ted Rizzo processed the bulk of the assessment binders, including those in the Post-Consolidation Sub-series and the Brooklyn District Sub-series. The overall collection arrangement was managed by archivist Larry Weimer, who also described the collection and processed all material other than the Transitional, Post-Consolidation and Brooklyn District assessment binders.
The collection combines the following accessions: 1978.144, 1985.057, 1993.009, and 2011.010.
