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Firestone Tires

Firestone Then and Now – Bedford Avenue & Empire Blvd – Crown Heights, Brooklyn

Fay S. Lincoln – 1926 – NYPL – As featured on Brownstoner

Fay Sturtevant Lincoln, known professionally as F. S. Lincoln, was an architectural photographer active from the 1930s to the 1950s in New York City, Long Island, New York State, and with commissions in Charleston, South Carolina, and Williamsburg, Virginia.Penn State University Libraries

© Frank H. Jump

© Frank H. Jump

© Frank H. Jump

© Frank H. Jump

Vincenzo and I have passed by this corner countless times while driving up Bedford Avenue from end to end. Today we had to stop and look at it with new eyes of wonder. We both have known about Bedford Avenue’s history with automobile dealers since Brooklyn transitioned from a horse-town to an automobile town. Other remnants like the Studebaker showroom building and the Avenue D Oldsmobile derelict neon are stunning examples of this past. In researching the building, I found a Brownstoner article from November 2011 that features the topmost image from F.S. Lincoln. Now, since I’ve posted this, the odds are this building will disappear within a year. I’m bad luck. I don’t recommend hiring me for taking pics of your new home, wedding or newborn. This has been my personal Twilight Zone saga since I’ve started documenting fading ads. Not all of the images I’ve shot are gone thankfully.