Trade card for George V. Hecker & Co., Croton Flour Mills, Ephemera Collection, Historic New England
One of the big employers on Cherry Street in the 1850s was the Croton Flour Mills, established in 1843 by George Hecker to supply fine flour to his brother John’s bakery on Rutger’s Street.[1] It was located between Market and Pike Streets. The view on this trade card is towards Pike Slip on the East River.
Trade card, All Things Ruffnerian: A Design Blog and More, http://allthingsruffnerian.blogspot.com/p/trade-cards-early-corporate-identity.html
The original mill on this site was destroyed by fire in 1846, and rebuilt with a fire-proof building later that same year. A granary capable of holding 40-50,000 bushels was added next door in 1850. By 1851 it was employing 70 men. Its specialty product was farina, a finely milled wheat cereal. The Croton Flour Mills annually produced 800,000 pounds of farina on the third floor of its plant.[2] Flour made locally could be sold at market for two to three dollars less that flour shipped from the West. In addition to the Hecker mills on Cherry Street, flour was also being milled from wheat in Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Jersey City and Newark.[3]
Trow’s New York City Directory for 1858-1859
Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “Plate 12: Map bounded by Rutgers Street, South Street, Market Street, Division Street; Including Pelham St, Pike Street, Pike Slip, Birmingham Street Mechanic’s Street, East Broadway, Henry Street, Madison Street, Monroe Street, Cherry Street, Water Street” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/5e66b3e8-e024-d471-e040-e00a180654d7
[1] Henry Hall, America’s Successful Men of Affairs: An Encyclopedia of Contemporaneous Biography), Vol. 1, New York Tribune Company, 1895, pp. 306-307
[2] New York Evening Post, November 7, 1851
[3] New York Herald, February 4, 1869