By Ira M. Kluger
Co-President, Canarsie Historical Society
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the Canarsie Courier’s 100th anniversary edition, which was published on April 22, 2021.
On the occasion of the Canarsie Courier’s 91st anniversary, I prepared a history of Canarsie’s early newspapers, which preceded the establishment of the Canarsie Courier. An updated version of this history was published in conjunction with the Courier’s 97th anniversary.
In honor of the Courier’s milestone 100th anniversary, it seems a particularly appropriate time to revisit this history. I have revised the history to incorporate some additional information, which was discovered following its publication. I am pleased to present this updated history below.
Unfortunately, we do not know and will probably never know how many newspapers existed in Canarsie during its early years. Most of them were short-lived, and no trace of them remains. What little we do know at present is as follows:
On November 23, 1867, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle contained a reference to a newspaper known as the Canarsie Chronicle. Almost 23 years later, on October 18, 1890, a reference to a newspaper known as the Canarsie Herald appeared in a newspaper known as Brooklyn Life. The 1867 reference is the earliest known reference to the existence of a newspaper specifically serving Canarsie. However, viewed within the respective contexts in which they appeared, I believe that both of these references were intended to be facetious and do not refer to newspapers that actually existed.
On March 27, 1873, in an article, which appeared in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a Mr. Roche is quoted as saying that he was once admitted to a convention as the reporter of the Canarsie Herald. Unfortunately, he does not state when or where this convention took place, nor does he provide any information regarding the existence of the Canarsie Herald. From this extremely limited information, I can only presume that a Canarsie Herald existed at some time prior to 1873.
In the column entitled “Canarsie Notes,” which appeared in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on Thursday, January 7, 1897, it was reported that, “Editor W. P. Fritz said to-day that with the next issue of the Herald, Saturday, publication would be suspended until spring. The Herald has had a brief career of eight weeks.” Whether publication did resume is unknown. However, given its extremely short lifespan, combined with the fact that no further references to a Canarsie Herald could be located, I personally believe it highly unlikely. It appears that this newspaper was unrelated to the previous Canarsie Herald.
On April 17, 1898, it was reported in “Canarsie Notes” that, “The Canarsie Weekly will be published next week by Charles F. Grim and Wallace Young.” The 1907 edition of N.W. Ayer & Son’s American Newspaper Annual reports the existence of a second, apparently unrelated Canarsie Weekly, this one having been established in 1903. The publisher is identified as D. D. Dickie of East 95th Street, Canarsie. We believe that Mr. Dickie, a printer by trade, operated a printing shop on Conklin Avenue, which was later relocated to Rockaway Parkway. The precise locations remain unknown. This newspaper was published on Wednesdays, consisted of four pages, and measured 15” X 22.” A subscription cost $1.00 per year. We do not know when this second Canarsie Weekly ceased publication.
The Canarsie Local was established by Robert H. Dunnet, who published the first edition on March 5, 1915. The price of a copy was two cents, and an annual subscription cost 50 cents. The masthead indicates the publication’s address as 409 Pearl Street, in Manhattan, and does not contain any indication that the newspaper actually maintained a physical presence in Canarsie. Although we do not know precisely when the Local ceased publication, in his reminiscences regarding the establishment of the Canarsie Courier, Walter S. Patrick stated that the Local lasted only a few months.
As the Canarsie Courier previously published a detailed history, which I prepared, and various aspects of its history are discussed elsewhere in this anniversary edition, I will not recount the Courier’s entire history herein. However, I believe that the following facts are noteworthy.
A reference to the Canarsie Courier appears in the 1922 edition of Ayer’s. The editor is listed as Walter S. Patrick, and the publisher as the Canarsie Courier Co. of 1226 E. Ninety-second St. Curiously, this address was actually the residence of the co-founder, Lester J. Stillwell. Although Stillwell’s name does not appear in the listing, the use of his address suggests that he was still involved in the Courier in some capacity. According to the listing, the Courier was, at that time, published on Fridays, rather than Thursdays. A subscription sold for $1.00 per year. Unfortunately, the circulation was not reported.
A paid advertisement for the Canarsie Courier, listing the circulation as 5,000, appeared in the 1927 issue of Who’s Who in Canarsie, published by Charles Wagner. Curiously, this advertisement lists the address of the Courier as 9420 Glenwood Road, which is also the address of the Congregation AAA (Ahavath Achim Anshei) synagogue. Further research indicates that the Courier was, at that time, located in a wooden shack on East 95th Street, between Conklin Avenue and Glenwood Road, to the rear of the synagogue. Because East 95th Street had not yet been officially opened, the Courier was assigned a Glenwood Road address, which corresponded to that of the synagogue. The Courier’s telephone number was listed as Skidmore 4835. This is particularly interesting in view of the fact that in his reminiscences regarding the early years of the Courier, Mr. Patrick stated that the Courier could not afford a telephone, and, while located at this address, received calls across the street, at Charles G. Lehmann’s grocery store. As an advertisement appearing in the 1927 issue of Who’s Who in Canarsie lists the telephone number of Lehmann’s Grocery as Skidmore 0391, it appears that by 1927, the Courier had sufficient funds to acquire its own telephone. Coincidentally, many years later, the Courier would relocate to the very same store at 132 Conklin Avenue, where Mr. Patrick received his telephone calls.
Interestingly, although the Business Certificate filed with the County Clerk in 1921, upon the establishment of the Courier, listed Mr. Patrick as residing at an address in the Ridgewood section of Brooklyn, the 1927 issue of Who’s Who in Canarsie lists Mr. Patrick’s address as 975 East 93rd Street in Canarsie. Thus, it appears that although Mr. Patrick was not living in Canarsie at the time the Courier was established, by 1927 he relocated to Canarsie.
I am pleased to share this updated history and hope that further research will yield additional information regarding Canarsie’s early newspapers.
Photo from Canarsie Courier archives
