Tour-goers walk past old beer brewer’s tombs in the Evergreens Cemetery during a history walk through South Bushwick. — Photos by Diego Cupolo

Early last Saturday morning, a small crowd of people with red noses gathered at Broadway Junction. Each person came prepared, wrapped in heavy layers to fend off the early winter winds, but they still sniffled between sentences and flocked to sunny areas along the platform in search of warmth. When the train finally came, they let it pass.

So what were they waiting for, in such harsh conditions, if it wasn’t the almighty L train? Well, obviously, it was local historian Adam Schwartz‘s last Bushwick history tour of the year.

Joined by former Community Board 4 manager John Dereszewski and Bushwick native-turned-historian, Peter Puleo, Schwartz was at it again this weekend and this time he covered everything that happened in South Bushwick since the Ice Age … or at least he started the day by talking about glaciers.

	Dutchness. Click to see more.

Schwartz had everyone meet at Broadway Junction to take advantage of the uninterrupted views from its upper platforms. Overlooking what seemed like all of Brooklyn, he described how glaciers formed Long Island and left large deposits of till as they receded. These deposits formed the gentle hills throughout our urban landscape; one of them is the home of the Cemetery of the Evergreens.

After a short walk, we found ourselves among the grand tombstones of the Evergreens where Schwartz pointed out the "Sailors of All Nations" monument not far from the Bushwick Avenue entrance. The memorial bears a stone globe on its top and is dedicated to seamen who died while docked in New York City ports.

Then Schwartz and Dereszewski teamed up to describe how Howard’s Tavern, which once stood in the middle of the cemetery, had played a significant role during the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Brooklyn.

On August 26, 1776 about 14,000 British troops were moving along Kings Highway under the cover of night to surround unsuspecting American troops. Upon reaching Howard’s Tavern, the British forced the owner and his son to lead their troops through the Rockaway Foot Path, an obscure trail still visible in the cemetery today. The next day, a surprise attack from the British overwhelmed George Washington’s troops and forced them to retreat to Brooklyn Heights and Manhattan.

"Not one of the better moments in the American Revolution, but it happened right here," Dereszewski said.

We then headed back out of the cemetery on Bushwick Avenue where the glorious Trommers Brewery once stood, before the anything-but-glorious car washes and Popeye’s Chicken ever existed. The brewery survived prohibition by selling "near beer" on city hot dog vending carts and even had it’s own first-class restaurant in an adjacent building, but it would meet its doom shortly after the 72-day brewer’s strike in 1949. Apparently, the yeast they used to make beer died during the strike and their product never regained its original taste, and hence, its popularity.

After that, the tour of "great buildings that used to be here" kept rolling with the former site of the Our Lady of the Lourdes Parish, a huge neighborhood church that burned down in 1975. All that remains today is the convent and school on Aberdeen Street – which have interesting stories of their own.

"At one point, someone had stolen the bronze altarpiece from this place and the local mafia at the time wasn’t having it," Schwartz said. "They wanted the thief to return it ‘or there would be a big problem’ and the altarpiece was on the doorsteps the next day."

We continued up Broadway and passed the old Colonial Theater, which is now a church, at Chauncey Street. Rudy Funke, a tour-goer that grew up in Bushwick, used to watch movies in the theater and was excited when he saw the building still existed.

"For twenty-six cents you got an A movie, a B movie, a cartoon, and a newsreel," he said. "And during the week it was only twenty-one cents!"

The tour took a U-turn into the Most Holy Trinity Cemetery, one of the most unusual graveyards in the country due to its metal tombstones. Just about the entire cemetery is filled with hollow white zinc tombstones that have now rusted, oxidized and become discolored in so many different ways they create a truly unique landscape. Schwartz said he was not certain of the reason behind using metal tombstones, but he suggested that it might have been to eliminate social class structures in a "we’re all equal when we die" kind of way.

In fear of being late for my other job, I had to leave the tour early, but I did make it to the beautifully preserved FDNY Engine 252 building on Central Avenue before leaving. Standing in contrast to its vinyl-covered neighbors, the neo-Dutch classical style of the building adds old time charm to the area … an area that was once flooded.

Yes, the Great Bushwick Flood of 1978. It happened mainly because of gravity, but a water main under too much pressure burst at Decatur and Central, and the water flowed all the way down to Broadway. A number of homes suffered water damage, their basements becoming swimming pools within minutes.

"If 1977 was test of fire for Bushwick, with the riots and all, then 1978 was the test of water," Dereszewski said.

The tour went on to Irving Square Park, which is a great green space with a large dog pen, but I was already on my way to work by then. After attending all three of Schwartz’s Bushwick history tours, one might feel worthy of a fancy completion certificate. His tours always reveal something hidden, almost forgotten about Bushwick, leaving his tour groups with not just more trivial knowledge, but with new perspectives on the neighborhood, past and present.