HAS YOUR BROKER BEEN FOOLING YOU? (1905)
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?
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In 1905, No. 838 Flatbush Avenue was only a few years old.
But it was already on its third tenant.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle opened its Flatbush office at No. 838 (today, No. 834) that year, forcing Weber & Koch realtors out the door.
The building had been constructed by Captain Henry Hoffman. Hoffman, referred to as captain from his sailing days, was the sole surviving member of the crew of the schooner America which had brought the America‘s Cup to the United states in 1851.
In business life, Hoffman was a big man in New York society, having been a millionaire coal merchant, though, in 1905, and reputedly (according to many sources – amongst them the Daily Eagle) the wealthiest man in Flatbush at the time.
Hoffman had originally expected to use the site for the real estate dealings he dabbled in. Soon after building the structure, however, Hoffman would sell and move on.
The new owners would be the borough’s premiere newspaper, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, which would maintained the office as a branch of the newspaper up until around the late 1920s.
In 1918, however, part of the building was taken up by another organization. The Flatbush Chamber of Commerce established itself there.
All this from an unassuming 19th century rowhouse.
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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 discovering the history of your home.
