Why is this building significant?
German immigrant Conrad Poppenhusen financed this five-story Victorian-style building as a place where people, irrespective of their race, creed, or religion, could come for self-improvement. Throughout its history, the Institute served as the first home of the College Point Savings Bank and the first library in the neighborhood, as well as hosting German singing societies and the First Reformed Church. The building housed a courtroom, a sheriff’s office, and the first free kindergarten in the United States, which began there in 1870.
What did the New York Landmarks Conservancy do?
We provided a $200,000 loan and a $10,000 grant in 2007 to upgrade the building’s fire protection system. In 2010 we gave $18,000 in grants towards the restoration of the wood entry portico, and in 2020, a $6,225 grant for masonry testing to ensure that proper patching and pointing mortars were used during a window replacement project.
Contemporary
Historic
