THE SLOW MUTATION OF “THE REGINA” (1902)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** In the historical research work we do for clients, we uncover old photos of their buildings in newspapers and in other archives. It is common to see that changes have taken place with these structures over the years, but these changes are not always readily apparent. Check out the following pics of this Crown Heights apartment building. See what you notice has changed in almost 120 years. Caption: “This is a picture of the Regina, a large apartment house recently bought by John Mollenhauer, the sugar refiner. It stands on the southwest corner of Nostrand avenue and Pacific street. It was built by E. J. Maguire. The building is in the heart of the St. Marks section. The transaction was partly exchange and partly cash. The building is valued at $90,000. Mr. Mollenhauer has invested extensively in property in the St. Marks section, owning several other apartment houses built by Mr. Maguire and many fine private houses. Mr. Mollenhauer lives in the Eastern District.” Follow @BrownstoneDetec Share ———————————————————————————————————————– The Brownstone Detectives Brownstone Detectives is an historic property research agency. Our mission is to document and save the histories of our clients’ homes. From our research, we produce our celebrated House History Books and House History Reports. Contact us today to begin […]
PARK SLOPE URNS vs. BASEBALL BATS (1914)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** On a still warm September morning in 1914, residents of the homes along the first block of Prospect Park Southwest woke to find something out in front of their houses distinctly off-kilter. As they exited their limestone rowhouses, several of them were shocked to see what appeared to be concrete rubble strewn up and down the block along the sidewalks and within their gates. Leaving their doors and approaching their gates, they began to realize the inanity of the cause – many of their decorative concrete urns, which had been perched peacefully upon the short columns flanking their front gates, had been destroyed overnight. As neighbored surveyed the block, there seemed to be no method to the madness of the demolition of these pieces of architectural ornamentation. Simply put, some neighbors had theirs undisturbed, while others’ urns were a pile of concrete on the sidewalk. The blame was quickly laid squarely at the feet of the local youth – toughs, rowdies, gangs, hoodlums. HOODLUMS It was a common story of the day. Gangs of loafers gathered on corners assaulting women verbally as they passed into the park. Roughs fighting along certain streets at odd hours of the mornings. Rowdies, after drunken trips to Coney Island, ending their nights on a high […]
A WILLOW GREW IN BROOKLYN HEIGHTS (1938)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** (In September of 1938, one of the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclones to hit Long Island, New York, “The Long Island Express,” wrecked havoc on the peninsula and much of Brooklyn, as well. In addition to killing 682 people and damaging or destroying more than 57,000 homes (causing property losses of $4.7 billion in today’s dollars), the hurricane knocked down innumerable trees. One of the more famous trees to lose its life in that storm was a willow tree of unknown age which sat in the yard of Brooklyn Heights’s No. 57 Willow Street. Some claimed that it was this tree that gave the street its name.) *********************************************************************************************** From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Mon., 31 October 1938 (by columnist Maxwell Hamilton): “At the rate timber fell around us during the Hollywood hurricane last September (ed.’s note-“The Long Island Express” was one of the deadliest and most destructive cyclones to strike Long Island, New York), it would have been a flagrant case of playing favorites to select any one particular crashing tree and honor it with front-page billing. And yet, if the evidence gathered by our secret agents is worth any salt at all, it would appear that we all missed up on one leafy upheaval that was genuine news. We […]
ANALYZING A QUINCY STREET VICTORIAN (1902)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. ******************************************************************************************************************************** In 1902, Quincy Street, between Bedford and Nostrand avenues, had become a leader in the Bedford District in block beautification initiatives. A forerunner to the Greenest Block campaign that would come 70 years later, the campaign in 1902 would be called “Block Beautiful.” Because the campaign had become so popular that year, this block of Quincy Street would have a number of pictures of its houses published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Here we have three shots of 186 Quincy Street – the home of Daniel Winant (a dealer in hotel and steamship food supplies) – which the Eagle called “the old Joseph C. Hoagland residence.” It was, they noted, a “double mansion of red brick, with a large lawn on one side, one of the finest of Hill residences.” So apparently, even back then, Clinton Hill was encroaching upon the Bedford section. 😉 The first picture, above, is a Google Maps northwest facing view of the house is from 2014; that is followed below by two more shots – a newspaper photograph from 1902, and then, another Google Maps shot from 2016. WHAT DIFFERENCES DO YOU NOTICE BETWEEN THE FOLLOWING TWO PICS!?!? Follow @brownstonedetec Share ———————————————————————————————————————– The Brownstone Detectives Brownstone Detectives is an historic property research agency. Our mission is to document and save the histories of our […]
BROOKLYN DREAMS OF ELECTRIC SHEEP (1903)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** In 1903, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle printed a fantastical futuristic story that gave insight into what Brooklyn’s imaginative residents may have suspected was the future for their borough. Entitled, “Brooklyn in 1999,” it was subtitled, “When Electricity Has Gone Out of Fashion and the B. R. T. Has Air Line Franchises” – a hopeful nod at the speed of progress, as well as a cynical snipe at how, ironically, “nothing ever really changes.” Like most “dreams” of the future, this one was rather reflective of the then-present, albeit including the compulsory automatic-everything and instantaneous air travel. One thing is a certainly, and that was the 1903 Brooklynite’s token view of “the help,” which was, in this case, the omnipresent Irish kitchen girl, who lives on in the form of an automaton with a fairly common Irish name… ********************************************************************************************* “The iron bridget’s out of order again this morning,” complained Mrs. Bobbidge, as her husband came out to the diningroom in his dressing gown and slippers. “Bother!” was Mr. Bobbidge’s remark. “This’ll make the fourth morning this month that I have been late at the office. He glanced at the clock. It was half past 10. He had only half an hour in which to get his breakfast and reach his desk. “We’ll […]
A WOOD FRAME DEATH SENTENCE (1914)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** Wood frame dwellings were once the norm in Brooklyn. Before a series of laws were enacted in the mid-1800s remanding that houses be constructed of “non-flammable” materials, houses had generally been made of wood. And wooden houses existed everywhere because they were simple to build, cheap in their construction and costs of materials, and their primary element – wood – was everywhere available. As “non-flammable” construction – mostly brick and brownstone – became the norm throughout the borough, these old structures were systematically torn down and replaced with the newer buildings. So, today, when you see a wooden house anywhere in Brooklyn – esp. closer to the city center – you are seeing a rare commodity, as what’s left of these structures is being torn down all around us by developers planning who are building larger and higher-occupancy buildings in their place. Back in 1914, though, people were generally tired of the wood structures – happy to see them meet the wrecking ball to be replaced by brick and mortar. So, no one lifted an eyebrow that year when the Park Slope YMCA purchased three of these type structures – with plans to level them for their new building. THE “Y” BUYS THREE TEAR-DOWNS In late 1914, the YMCA on the […]
