THE GREAT BROOKLYN FLOOD OF 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? ******************************************************************************************************************************** By 7 a.m. on Friday, 9 October 1903, the cellars all along Macon Street were completely inundated with water that was rising quickly toward the basement joists. Without let up, the turgid brown waters continued to pour into the homes through the under-stoop doorways until the floodwaters had reached the level of the basement windowsills, whereupon it then began to pour also through the windows and into the basement dining rooms. The Ocean Hill area, like much of Brooklyn, had fallen victim of the heavy rains that had been falling continuously for much of the night. All the residences along Hancock, McDonough, Macon, Decatur, Bainbridge and Chauncey Streets were so flooded that residents on the ground floor apartments discovered upon waking that they were forced to go to the second floors to escape the waters. “IN SARATOGA PARK…BENCHES WERE FLOATING ABOUT…” The paths in Saratoga Park, according to one newspaper account, “had become running streams and benches were floating about.” The nearby Putnam and Halsey streetcars stopped running, as “it was impossible to take on any passengers, as the water was as high as the seats.” Streets and sidewalks were submerged under several inches of water, and, eventually, furniture moving vans were pressed into service by the police to be used […]
FINDING HISTORICAL PICS OF YOUR NYC BLOCK
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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? ******************************************************************************************************************************** Have you ever wondered what your block looked like 100 years ago? Well, now’s your chance to find out! Using a new website called OLDNYC, the opportunity is yours to try and locate historic New York City photos by location. The project, created by Dan Vanderkam in collaboration with the New York Public Library (NYPL), makes historic photographs (all pre-loaded and locate-able by an interactive map of the city) accessible by using a map. To find pics from your neighborhood, simply locate your neighborhood or street on the map and look for the red dots – which indicate that there are pictures available for these locations. The top right snapshot is one that we found of a row of houses near the intersection of Saratoga Avenue and Decatur Street, in the Ocean Hill section of Bedford-Stuyvesant. Below that is what this stretch of block looks like today. Vanderkam describes his site as “an alternative way of browsing the NYPL’s incredible Photographic Views of New York City, 1870s-1970s collection.” “Its goal,” he continues “is to help you discover the history behind the places you see every day.” Quite an admirable offering and a great way to access NYPL’s extensive collection of old photographs. This is going to be a valuable website for […]
PVT. BUDD SOMERS (A BEDSTUY HERO) (1918)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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 2014, The Brownstone Detectives partnered with the New York City Parks Department to help celebrate the lives of the servicemembers of Bedford-Stuyvesant Heights who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Great War. We researched these heroes to locate pictures, stories, and their descendants to be brought together for a ceremony that dedicated a new “Victory and Peace” war memorial at Saratoga Park. This biography tells the story of one of those servicemembers. PVT. BUDD RUSSELL SOMERS “Budd” Russell Somers was born in Owego, New York, near Binghamton, on 3 March 1891. His family moved to Pennsylvania at some point before the century was out. But, Somers would find himself back in Brooklyn sometime after 1910. A “tool maker” at the John Johnson & Company – at 37th Street and 3rd Avenue – Somers was a tall and slender man with grey eyes and chestnut hair. He had been courting Daisy Elizabeth Saxby when American involvement in the Great War became a reality, and so he did what many other young single men going off to war did – he married her. His marriage was the classic pre-war wedding, taking place less than five months before being “called up” in the draft. When that event occurred, on 10 October, Somers boarded […]
CPL. JAMES D. IRWIN (A BEDSTUY HERO)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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 2014, The Brownstone Detectives partnered with the New York City Parks Department to help celebrate the lives of the servicemembers of Bedford-Stuyvesant Heights who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Great War. We researched these heroes to locate pictures, stories, and their descendants to be brought together for a ceremony that dedicated a new “Victory and Peace” war memorial at Saratoga Park. This biography tells the story of one of those servicemembers. CORPORAL JAMES D. IRWIN Before joining the U.S. Army and heading out to fight in the Great War, a 20-year-old James D. Irwin sat down with his sweetheart, Elsie, to discuss their future. Although the two felt somewhat apprehensive, considering James’ impending commitment, it didn’t take long for the young couple to decide to formalize their relationship. Going off to war has a way of inspiring people to make these sorts of decisions – and it was happening with many other couples – all across the borough. Irwin, a resident of Stuyvesant Heights, lived at 324A Decatur Street with his mother, two sisters, and a brother. Soon after news of the U.S. entrance in the Great War was announced, Irwin decided he did not want to wait for a draft. He went straight down to the local Army […]
