In 1899 the Dewey Athletic Club was located on the north side of Metropolitan Avenue between Pleasantview Street on the east and 71st Street on the west. It was located immediately to the west of the Fearless Hook & Ladder Company #7's fire house. The building that the club used was the original fire house of the Fearless Company which was organized in 1889 and which became company #7 of the Newtown Fire Department on July 1, 1890. It is believed their original fire house was located on 69th Street.

In November, 1895 the fire company bought land on the north side of Metropolitan Avenue for $800 from Catherine Schumacher Sutter and built their new fire house there which opened in October, 1896. In May, 1897 the old fire house site was sold at public auction to a member of the Homeyer Family and eventually the old firehouse was moved to Metropolitan Avenue and placed immediately to the west of the new fire house. It was then used by the athletic club which had been organized by some of the young men in Middle Village interested in boxing and baseball.

The club was named for George Dewey, a U.S. naval officer who was a hero of the Spanish-American War for his complete destruction of the Spanish Fleet at the battle of Manila Bay without the loss of a single American life.

The only person identified in the photo (top) is the person who is sixth from the left. This is John Edinger, whose father, Henry Edinger, had a hotel on the north side of Metropolitan Avenue between Pleasantview Street & 73rd Place.

At the time of the photo (circa 1899) the building number was 2053 Metropolitan Avenue, it was located at what is now 71-53.