E. L. Pollock, 175 W. 107th St. New York, 2009  

The E. L. Pollock iron foundry was located on a stretch of Broadway which in approximately 1900 was re-named Old Broadway when some of the meanderings of the older road were straightened to fit better into Manhattan's rectangular street plan. The foundry was on the west side of Old Broadway mid-block between 129th and 130th Sts. This can be seen clearly on a map dated 1902 available on the New York Public Library's Digital Collections, where 2343 is labeled "Iron Works." (As of 2012 this location sits in the middle of a housing project, and that part of Old Broadway exists only in the two-block stretch further north between 131st and 133rd Sts.)

E. L. Pollock was Edmund L. Pollock (1863-?). He can be found in the 1900 and 1910 U. S. Census reports, living both times at 2343 Old Broadway. In 1900 he was 36 years old, born July 1863, New York, "Housesmith." In 1910 he was 45, born New York, "Iron Worker Foundry." He appears in New York City directories from 1895 through 1913. His address was 2343 Broadway (or Old Broadway) from 1897 through 1913. This coal chute cover with the address 2343 Broadway very possibly dates from the early years before 1900.

In 1906 the Columbia Spectator ran a classified ad for a furnished room for "one or two young men" at "Pollock," 2343 Old Broadway.

Copyright (c) 2012 Walter Grutchfield