12/17/2021
Vintage Brooklyn high school postcards, ca. 1908.
BEAUTIFUL or CREEPY?
The Brownstone Detectives
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Historical research for your New York City property. We investigate its past and reveal its stories. The Brownstone Detectives is a "sleuths for hire" research team.
We investigate the histories of buildings and the people who lived and worked in them. We do the gumshoe work of digging up the former owners (the live ones, that is), interviewing neighbors and residents, and researching official documents at City agencies and historical archives. We then produce the entire report in an attractive, hard-bound, colorfully illustrated, and engagingly written coffee
We investigate the histories of buildings and the people who lived and worked in them. We do the gumshoe work of digging up the former owners (the live ones, that is), interviewing neighbors and residents, and researching official documents at City agencies and historical archives. We then produce the entire report in an attractive, hard-bound, colorfully illustrated, and engagingly written coffee
Operating as usual
12/17/2021
ARRESTED FOR SELLING BICYCLE OIL (1896) – The Brownstone Detectives
Victorians didn't mess around with their blue laws!
So much so that “wheel” shops made it a practice on Bedford Avenue to stay open on Sundays in open violation of the “Sunday law” which prevented businesses from operating on that day.
12/17/2021
The Old Fountain at Division & Bedford Aves, Williamsburg; built in 1878, demolished in 1927 due to "THE INCREASE IN AUTOMOBILE TRAFFIC." 🧐
12/17/2021
SHAKESPEARE AT NO. 24 BREVOORT PL (1928) – The Brownstone Detectives
SHAKESPEARE AT NO. 24 BREVOORT PL (1928) Did priceless works of the Bard once occupy this #Brooklyn #brownstone library?
The president of the Standard Oil Company was so smitten with Shakespeare’s works that, in 2014, a book, Collecting Shakespeare, was published about Folger and his collection.
12/09/2021
A WILLOW GREW IN BROOKLYN HEIGHTS (1938) – The Brownstone Detectives
A WILLOW GREW IN BROOKLYN HEIGHTS (1938) Was this the original willow of Willow Street?
(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 p...
12/08/2021
Who did carriage houses better? The 1940s or 2020s? (No. 90 Park Place, Park Slope, #Brooklyn)
12/08/2021
Bobby Lewis on Twitter
wow seriously though I didn't realize the tree was all that.... We should put the Christmas tree on the flag.
“Ainsley Earhardt on the Fox Christmas tree: "It's a tree that unites us. It brings us together. It's about the Christmas spirit. It is about the holiday season. It's about Jesus. It's about Hanukkah. It is about everything that we stand for as a country." https://t.co/fV8Hg2juHI”
12/08/2021
The Brownstone Detectives on Twitter
HOW TO DESTROY A #BROWNSTONE (1970) Watch as these Park Slope #rowhouses get their stoops removed --> https://bit.ly/31q03iz
“HOW TO DESTROY A #BROWNSTONE (1970) Watch as these Park Slope #rowhouses get their stoops removed --> https://t.co/0ICiBfgQeg”
12/06/2021
The Brownstone Detectives on Twitter
WHEN #BROOKLYN WAS (PRE-) FAB (1946) Post WWII, a Quonset hut surplus existed. So, NYC used them for veteran housing.
“WHEN #BROOKLYN WAS (PRE-) FAB (1946) Post WWII, a Quonset hut surplus existed. So, NYC used them for veteran housing. https://t.co/tB67B0DAou”
12/06/2021
The Brownstone Detectives on Twitter
DEAN STREET WOOD FRAME HOUSES (Nos. 357-367, nr. 4th Ave), 1929; the #Brooklyn Industrial HS For Girls is under construction, at left.
“DEAN STREET WOOD FRAME HOUSES (Nos. 357-367, nr. 4th Ave), 1929; the #Brooklyn Industrial HS For Girls is under construction, at left.”
11/03/2021
No. 5619 4th Avenue (jut off 57th Street) on 10 March 1913. This would have been referred to as "Bay Ridge" back in the day, Sunset Park today.
No. 5619 4th Avenue (jut off 57th Street) on 10 March 1913. This would have been referred to as "Bay Ridge" back in the day, Sunset Park today.
11/02/2021
THE MARXIST AT No. 477 E. 16th St. (1910) – The Brownstone Detectives
This Ditmas Park house has a curiously Socialist lineage...
Louis B. Boudin was a Russian-born American Marxist theoretician, writer, politician, and lawyer, who wrote a two volume history of the Supreme Court’s influence on American government as well as his piece de resistance, The Theoretical System of Karl Marx in the Light of Recent Criticism, first p...
10/25/2021
The Brownstone Detectives on Twitter
Today's quiz - #WTF?:
1. They ran out of paint.
2. This was how high the ladder went.
3. This IS the design.
“Please answer - #WTF?: 1. They ran out of paint. 2. This was how high the ladder went. 3. This IS the design.”
10/25/2021
The Brownstone Detectives on Twitter
#BROWNSTONE DETECTIVES PRO TIP: If you see a black dot on a
@nycrecords #TaxPhoto, it means it was rejected and there's another photo out there. :)
“#BROWNSTONE PRO TIP: If you see a black dot on a @nycrecords #TaxPhoto, it means it was rejected and there's another photo out there! 😁”
10/25/2021
The Brownstone Detectives on Twitter
Is adding Victorian fireplace tiles to your building façade a thing? Please tell me it's not a thing.
“Is adding Victorian fireplace tiles to your building façade a thing? Please tell me it's not a thing. https://t.co/XMz0mv2E6t”
10/22/2021
The Macaroni in 'Yankee Doodle' Is Not What You Think
I translated "Yankee Doodle" for confused modern audiences:
Yankee Do**us went to town
A-riding on a pony,
Stuck a feather in his cap
And called it GOAT.
Meet the stylish gender-role rebels of 1770s England.
09/27/2021
R.I.P., fence & stoop.
https://twitter.com/sethmpk/status/1442517231640870912
09/23/2021
SAGAMORE PLEASURE CLUB (No. 955 Pacific St, Prospect Heights, #Brooklyn)
#NYC #brownstones #History
09/23/2021
JOHN E. SULLIVAN, DEVELOPER OF BAY RIDGE (1910) "...it should far outstrip the Bronx in the near future."
#NYC #Brooklyn #brownstones #History
pic.twitter.com/55O0EOT5zN
09/23/2021
Was there a #SPEAKEASY in your #brownstone?
During #Prohibition, No. 232 53d St was one of #Brooklyn's many "blind tigers."
pic.twitter.com/VzV6bZya1C
09/17/2021
HORTON'S ICE CREAM!
(No. 407 6th Ave, Park Slope, #Brooklyn, #NYC)
#brownstones #History
https://twitter.com/BrownstoneDetec/status/1438859370419400708
https://twitter.com/BrownstoneDetec/status/1438859370419400708
09/09/2021
Flipping off the Google Maps guy from your stoop is a time-honored tradition...
(No. 325 50th St, Bay Ridge, #Brooklyn, #NYC, ca. 2011)
#brownstones #history
09/01/2021
What were these??? Covered balconies w/a false gabled roof behind??? Is that skylight showing thru???
(Nos. 452-4 48th St, Sunset Park, Brooklyn, NY)
08/22/2021
The Bay Ridge #brownstone at No. 451 47th St. was home to Vivian Mathison, who was a "Goldwyn Girl;" she appeared in Eddie Cantor's 1932 movie "The Kid From Spain."
#NYC #Brooklyn #History
https://twitter.com/BrownstoneDetec/status/1428747946133176321
08/22/2021
In the 1940s, the coolest kids hung out in Vinegar Hill. (Playing cards at No. 47 Hudson Ave).
#NYC #brownstones #History
https://twitter.com/BrownstoneDetec/status/1428839364495355906
08/22/2021
The 1909 Haynes Auto premiered in #Brooklyn at No. 683 MacDonough St, in #BedStuy, home of the Borough Automobile Company, where demonstrations were given.
#NYC #brownstones #History
https://twitter.com/BrownstoneDetec/status/1428833978056855553
08/05/2021
Brownstone Detectives on Twitter
Peary discovered the North Pole with the financial help of men like Anton Raven, No. 864 President St, Park lope, #Brooklyn.
“Anton Adolph Raven, the "Dean of Cosmopolitan," owned the #brownstone at No. 864 President St. in Park Slope, #Brooklyn. He was one of 6 men who helped Peary reach the North Pole. #NYC.”
08/03/2021
Brownstone Detectives on Twitter
"The Man Who Hated Houdini" owned this tony Park Slope #brownstone; he was friends, though, with a great Teddy Bear...
“"The Man Who Hated Houdini" owned this tony Park Slope #brownstone; he was friends, though, with a great Teddy Bear... #Brooklyn #NYC #History https://t.co/k7bdkS2RUn https://t.co/TzRIIdLAgw”
08/03/2021
HOW TO REMOVE A BROWNSTONE STOOP (1905) – The Brownstone Detectives
More than 100 years ago, the stoop leading to the parlor of No. 107 Joralemon St - disappeared.
The stoop, like a timeless portrait’s gilded frame, is a vital element to the design and use of the townhouse. It carries the focus of the viewer into the house itself, just as the stoop physically transports the resident bodily into the house.
07/27/2021
Brownstone Detectives on Twitter
BUSHMAN STEPS at 157th St, Washington Heights.
Baseball fans once used them to get to the Polo Grounds.
#NYC #History
pic.twitter.com/NP0hChy1to
“BUSHMAN STEPS at 157th St, Washington Heights. Baseball fans once used these steps to get to the Polo Grounds. #NYC #History”
07/27/2021
Brownstone Detectives on Twitter
MEASURING THE "DEPTH" OF A ROAD (1940) #NYC would soon "raise" this unpaved roadway to level it w/the houses. See 2018 @Googlemaps to compare. (Hazen Street, #Queens, Nos. 21-40 & 44, at 71st St)
pic.twitter.com/JclF99WrXu
“MEASURING THE "DEPTH" OF A ROAD (1940) #NYC would soon "raise" the unpaved roadway to level it w/the houses. See 2018 @Googlemaps to compare. (Hazen Street, Queens, Nos. 21-40 & 44, at 71st St)”
07/27/2021
THE DUKE OF No. 210 ST JOHNS PL (1907) – The Brownstone Detectives
A low-key wedding in this Park Slope #brownstone forever changed American #history. (No. 210 St. Johns Pl.)
It was no ordinary wedding, however. For the ceremony was about to join a young widow of the borough to one of the most successful businessmen of the country – and one of its most ruthless trust violators – the “Tobacco King.”
07/25/2021
Brownstone Detectives on Twitter
EASTERN PARKWAY HEIGHTS? What realtors did to sell #brownstones & #limestones... :) (@BklynEagle, 1909)
“EASTERN PARKWAY HEIGHTS? What realtors did to sell #brownstones & #limestones... :) (@BklynEagle, 1909)”
07/25/2021
Brownstone Detectives on Twitter
Early architectural drawings were often published in newspapers. Here, No. 465 Clinton Ave, #Brooklyn, ca. 1903 - & Today.
#NYC. #browntones #History
“Early architectural drawings were often published in newspapers. Here, No. 465 Clinton Ave, #Brooklyn, ca. 1903 & Today, #NYC. #browntones #Hisstory”
07/22/2021
The word "Gaseteria..." Was that a cross between "filling station" and that great Southern word, "washateria"?
(Location: Southwest corner of Houston at Lafayette, ca. 1979)
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Comments
Just found your page. I lived on Halsey St., in the '50's, between Saratoga & Howard. Your stories are fascinating. Thanks.
Macon Street?
The Brownstone Detectives May serve as a viable resource to assist with consolidating detailed historical documentation, imagery, information, etc. concerning a myriad of projects and cases.
When we started renovating our house, we began to find the things left behind by former owners...
28 McKinney Queens in1915 what is the address now?
Thank you for your post of a few months back on the 40th anniversary of the Bushwick fires. My brother and I often frequented Ruth and Sam Book Store since we were comic book collectors. It was a devastating moment when it burned down. I recently wrote about my experiences and linked to your post: