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The first known
address for the McKeon family was 406 Broome Street, in
lower Manhattan, just three blocks north of Canal
Street, the northern border of the
notorious slum called the Five Points ===>>
photo by
Richard Foy
17 May 2005
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The house at 406
Broome is gone, but it probably resembled these
tenements on Broome Street just one block further east
of 406 Broome. ===>>
photo by
Richard Foy
17 May 2005 |
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The actual site of
McKeon's 406 Broome street address is now occupied by a
seven story building. It is located between
Cleveland and Mott Streets, at the northern
border of the present day <<===Chinatown. ===>>
photos by
Richard Foy
17 May 2005 |
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▲
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The tenements in the photo above (and all NYC photos of
tenements in this section) probably did not have
external fire escapes, as these were not mandated until
after the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in the early 20th
century. |
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Ellen McKeon, age
one, died in 1862. Her address was given as 39
Rivington Street. This east-west street is just two
blocks above Broome Street. So some of the
McKeons may have moved up from Broome Street.
===>> |
 photos by
Richard Foy
17 May 2005
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39 Rivington Street
lay between Forsyth and Eldridge Streets, and
is now occupied by a public school. Directly east of
the school is a large playground. ===>> photos by
Richard Foy
17 May 2005
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<<=== Across
the street from 39 Rivington stand some old tenements,
nicely restored. Again, the external fire escapes
did not exist when the McKeons and Sherrys lived on
Rivington. |
About
the end of the Civil War, the McKeon's moved out of
Manhattan onto Long Island, first at Hunters Point,
which lies directly opposite 34th Street. It was
connected to Manhattan by a ferry. The end of Welfare
Island (now called Roosevelt Island) extended this far
south in the East River, so ferry service to Long
Island was not practical above 34th street until about
80th street. |
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Hunters Point at
51st Avenue, which was called 8th Street at time of
1870 census. The area had been changed from
farmland to housing shortly after the Civil War.
By 1870, the McKeon and Sherry families had moved
across the East River to Hunters Point.
===>> .
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photo 27 May 2004
by Richard Foy |
Another small group
of houses along 51st Avenue in Hunters Point later
called Long Island City. The
area became industrialized after the turn of the 20th
century. ===>> |
photo 27 May 2004
by Richard Foy |
photo 27 May 2004
by Richard Foy |
<<=== Dutch Kills,
just east of Hunters Pont, looking north from the 49th Avenue bridge. The
Kills is a tidal channel north of Newtown Creek.
It was used to transport goods to and from the
buildings along each side of the channel. |
photo 27 May 2004
by Richard Foy |
<<<=== Dutch
Kills, looking south from the 49th Avenue bridge. The
overpass is the Long Island Expressway. Beyond
the overpass, the channel connects to Newtown Creek,
the separation between Brooklyn and Queens.
James Sherry was hit by a train along the Kills in
1870, and died in Bellevue Hospital in NYC, directly
across the East River via the 34th Street ferry. |
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This small row of
houses is probably across the street from the homes of
John and Patrick McKeon. Their side of the street
was taken to make room for the exit for the
Queens-Midtown Tunnel and Long Island Expressway ===>>
photo 27
May 2004
by Richard Foy
|
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The McKeon and
Casey families in the living room
of the McKeon home on 182 Gleane Street, Elmhurst, Long
Island. See enlargement for listing of those
pictured. ===>>
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<<=== The
church sign at left is a clear testimonial to the wave
of immigration patterns in New York City. A
church with the Irish spelling for Saint Brigid now
services Hispanic parishioners. photo
17 May 2005
by Richard Foy |
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<<=== Saint
Brigid's RC Church is located at the southeast corner
of Eighth Street, facing Tompkins Square Park.
Eighth Street was the residence of the Barry family in
the 1870 census.
photo 17
May 2005
by Richard Foy |
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Anna McKeon was the
daughter of Mary Reidy and George Waring. After her
father died, Anna's mother married William Barry, a
widower with children, and the families merged under
the Barry name. ===>> |
 photo
17 May 2005
by Richard Foy |
William Barry was a
"ship sawyer" or master carpenter who worked on
the drydocks along the East River between 2nd and 12th
street. An unverified tradition is that Barry's family
founded owned what became the Circle
Line. In 1870 he lived along Eighth Street
between Avenues B and C, directly opposite Tompkins
Square Park. ===>> |
photo 17 May 2005
by Richard Foy |
 photo
17 May 2005
by Richard Foy |
<<=== By 1880
the Barry and Wearing families were joined and lived
one block further north, again adjacent to Tompkins
Square Park. Later, Catherine Barry married Peter
Sherry, Elizabeth Barry married Hugh Casey, and Anna
Barry married Thomas McKeon. |
 photo
17 May 2005
by Richard Foy |
<<=== Anna
McKeon married Thomas McKeon during the around 1882.
The couple settled in Newtown Queens. The first child
was born in 1884. I
remember her stories of the blizzard of 1888 from her home in
Newtown, New York. |
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