Forgotten New York takes a look today at Dunham Place, a block-long street east of Kent Avenue just south of the Williamsburg Bridge that’s a touch off the beaten path for some people in Williamsburg. Among other things, we learn about who the street is named after:
David Dunham (1790-1823), a New York merchant who helped initiate an early steam ferry from Brooklyn to New York, which earned him the nickname “Father of Williamsburg.” Dunham was an indefatogable advocate for steam navigation and a pioneer of steamship travel, venturing to Havana, New Orleans, and several southern states. He died a tragic death when he fell overboard in gthe Hudson River and drowned near West Point while returning — by steamship, of course — from Albany.
