This ghost sign lives on the south side of 2108 2nd Ave in East Harlem. I spotted this sign earlier in the year and discovered a few other ghost sign hunters have taken notice of this uptown mystery as well. None that I know of have had any luck in deciphering the business advertised and I figured it would be the same for me. I had given up on finding out anything about this particular sign until I was doing a little research on a ghost sign on Houston St. I spotted a photo with a familiar line of addresses but this time with the name “Willenbrock” above it.

Some internet sleuthing lead to the firm of “Hencken & Willenbrock,” suppliers of wood and coal. The earliest mention I found was an ad from 1901. Here you’ll see the same addresses along with with the words “East River”.

A billhead from 1908 shows an example of an order; a quick scan reveals they were “Established in 1870”.

A photo from 1904 of a view of downtown Manhattan from Brooklyn includes their Stanton St depot.

And finally I came across a photo Matt Webber had taken of a different Hencken & Willenbrock sign back in 1987. He only says “I wish I had more info about this old sign…”

https://weber-street-photography.com/2014/02/27/coal-wood-nyc-1987/