Joseph Laemmle left his name in this cornice at 200 Bleecker St., New York City, where the Laemmle Dairy was located from 1897 to 1915. Laemmle was a native of Würtemberg, who became a naturalized citizen in 1880, giving his occupation as milkman. Andrew S. Dolkart writng for the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation states, "Each of these brick houses, built in 1826. was originally 2 1/2-stories tall... A full third story was added to each house - in 1876 at no. 200 and in 1899 at no. 202 (for Joseph Laemmle, whose name can still be seen in the cornice)." (The Dolkart report is available online at http://www.gvshp.org/documents/SouthVillageDolkartReportPDF.pdf.)

The buildings are now part of the Little Red School House. The Little Red School House and the buildings at 200 and 202 Bleecker St. were the subject of a Christopher Gray Streetscapes article in the New York Times, 29 March 1998.

A relative of Joseph Laemmle posted the following on my flickr site: "Joseph Laemmle was my husband's great granduncle. Joseph purchased 202 Bleecker St. from Peter Forrester for $17,000 on May 15, 1882. City directories list his 202 Bleecker St. address from 1884-1914. Believe Joseph retired in 1914-15, but his son, John B. Laemmle, continued on with the family business until 1920. Joseph was one of the original incorporators of The Milk Exchange, Ltd., which later became The Consolidated MIlk Exchange, Ltd. Both were investigated by the Grand Jury for fixing the price of milk in NYC. These investigation resulted in stricter laws on the price of milk. The Laemmle chain of dairies was sold in 1920."

Copyright © 2002 Walter Grutchfield