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The Havemeyer family didn’t just refine sugar; they controlled it. By 1907, the American Sugar Refining Company had a stranglehold on 98 percent of national sugar production, earning patriarch H.O. Havemeyer the nickname “Sugar Pope.” Their empire began modestly enough: German immigrant William Havemeyer arrived in the United States in 1799 and, along with his brother Frederick, opened their first refinery in 1807 on Vandam Street in Manhattan. But it was the move to Brooklyn that transformed the operation from family business to industrial titan.
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In 1859, the Havemeyers relocated to Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, drawn by open space, a deep harbor, and an abundant labor pool. When fire destroyed the original structures, Theodore A. Havemeyer, Thomas Winslow, and J. E. James rebuilt the complex in 1882, creating the iconic waterfront factory that would dominate the East River skyline for over a century. At the time, it was the tallest building in Brooklyn. The name “Domino” was patented in 1901, branding what would become one of America’s most recognizable products.
The factory’s golden age arrived in the 1920s, when it employed 4,500 workers and had the capacity to refine 4 million pounds of sugar daily, enough to supply the entire U.S. with about 2 pounds of sugar per person each day. At its peak, the Williamsburg refinery produced up to 98% of the sugar consumed in the United States. The sweet white crystals pouring out of the Brooklyn plant fueled American kitchens and bakeries, cementing the Domino name in pantries nationwide. But the empire’s wealth was built on a darker foundation: Caribbean sugar plantations and the exploitation of labor that made mass production possible.
By the late 20th century, the factory’s relevance was crumbling. In June 1999, 284 workers went on strike in a labor dispute that would stretch to February 2001, becoming one of the longest strikes in New York City history. The writing was on the wall, scrawled in granulated sugar.
In 2004, the Domino Sugar Refinery closed its doors for good, the last major active industrial operation on Brooklyn’s once-bustling East River waterfront. The Sugar Pope’s kingdom had finally dissolved.
