Millicent
Street view of the Millicent storefront taken in the early 1940s. Accessed via www.1940s.nyc website.
Sanborn Fire Insurance map of Port Richmond neighborhood, 1937. Millicent is the blue building in the top-center, facing Bennett street.
32 Bennett Street, Google Street View October 2021 Known Name(s)
Millicent
Address
32 Bennet St. Port Richmond, NY
Establishment Type(s)
Beauty Parlor
Description
Millicent was a beauty parlor in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Staten Island. Its storefront can be seen in a street-view image created for a 1939-1941 WPA initiative to document buildings in the city. The image reveals a small, two-story brick clad building with a storefront on the first floor. Two large, plate-glass windows dominated the first floor. A customer entrance sat recessed between the windows. Both windows were lettered with the word “Millicent.” Next to the storefront was an additional doorway that presumably led to the living quarters upstairs. The first and second floors were separated by a pentice with a flat roof. The second floor featured a prominent bay window, above which was a projecting eave that featured corbels on the ends. The roof itself was flat. The building was Italianate in style and probably dates from the 1870s or 1880s.
A Sanborn Fire Insurance Map reveals additional details about the construction of the building that once occupied 32 Bennett St. The building, which is identified as a store, was primarily constructed of concrete or cement brick, but faced Bennett Street with a brick veneer. The footprint of the building itself was small, and it likely could accommodate only a handful of patrons at a time. 32 Bennett St sat between two larger stores of different construction and design.
At an unknown date, the shop at 32 Bennett was demolished. In 2001, a family residence was built in its place. This newer dwelling does not occupy the exact footprint of the original 32 Bennett but instead combines the lots of what was once 30 Bennett and 32 Bennett to create space for a larger dwelling with some lawn space.
Detailed History
Millicent was only listed in the 1949 edition of the Green Book, which might suggest a short-lived business venture. To date, no documentation regarding the business has been identified, aside from its status as a beauty parlor.
Staten Island has long held a reputation for being New York City’s least diverse borough. Although it has gradually diversified in recent decades, it was a predominantly white borough in the 1940s and 1950s. Millicent’s presence in the Green Book indicates that, even in a largely white area, African Americans formed communities and safe spaces for themselves.
