Dr. William Dohm's Sick Animal Hospital
55 Bryant Avenue, Roslyn
This building was originally a barn or storage facility prior to 1890 for J.M. Witte. As early as 1890, it was redesigned as an animal hospital.
Coinciding with the expansion of Bryant Avenue in 1925, an elaborate Queen Anne Revival front facade was added to the front of an unpretentious, two-story, clapboarded building for veterinarian Dr. William Dohn. The façade featured brick and half-timbering, painted sash, a large leaded lobby window and glazed front door. The architect of the original facade was Henry W. Johansen from Roslyn, who also the architect for Roslyn Rescue Hook & Ladder Company and the Lincoln Building, all of which survive. A large “Dog Hospital” sign was hung from the façade.
In 1968, based on plans for a medical building at the location, the “sick animal” hospital was demolished, and the Johansen façade crated for later use.
The entire original facade was applied to a newly constructed medical office building in 1983 designed by architect Guy Ladd Frost. Frost was strongly influenced by the Dr. Dohm's facade for the design of the entire building. Fortunately, the most important architectural component of Dr. Dohm's “sick animal” hospital has survived intact today.
Circa 1965. Photo by Ray Jacobs.
Circa 1968
Building being taken down. Circa 1968.
The reinstalled original façade in the new medical building (May 1984).
55 Bryant Avenue (January 14, 2021).
3 Comments
Susan Thorner Weeden:
Thats where ( to the building which had the original facade applied) we took Woody after my father brought him home. Remember how we stayed up all night feeding him with a dolls bottle? And he grew so big he spent his later life on a horse farm!
Ann Kopple:
He was also the local doctor for peoples horses. We took our 3 Spaniels to him in the 50s. I remember exactly what he looked like!
Justin Schiess
Some 50+ years ago I stopped here and asked the Dr if I could take some pictures of his car, an early 1930s Franklin. He was rather brusque but I got my pictures. I should have asked for a ride. I still remember the jungle of snake plants that he had in the windows.
I clearly remember bringing our dog to Dr. Dohm in the mid-late 1960s. He always wore his lab coat with "Dr. Dohm" sewn over the left pocket in a stylish script typeface along with his bushy mustache and tortoise shell glasses. The office had a row of ferns (visible in the exterior images above) and had the odor of age and a bit of neglect. Dr. Dohm also had a row of apothecary jars that contained dog fetuses from inception to near full growth in Formaldehyde. It was a bit scary, but at the same time you couldn't avert your gaze. I remember the car, it was a source of tremendous pride for him. He was a "salty" man but we loved him.