Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
1908 map
I'm not sure who the author is from but it's a small portion of a 1908 map from page 81 from Merlis & Rosenweig's Brooklyn's Gold Coast: The Sheepshead Bay Communities.
My efforts, even if unappreciated, are at the very least a case study of what is lost with demolition.
If others did not believe in the same there wouldn't be historical districts, historical societies stocked with photos of ordinary street scenes nor would the city be making a profit by offering pictures of houses from 1940s. Why would they if only a handful cared?
These pictures barely show much context. By chance, there may be a person or car in view, from which you can get a sense of the time. But the point is the house. It's existence.
If others did not believe in the same there wouldn't be historical districts, historical societies stocked with photos of ordinary street scenes nor would the city be making a profit by offering pictures of houses from 1940s. Why would they if only a handful cared?
These pictures barely show much context. By chance, there may be a person or car in view, from which you can get a sense of the time. But the point is the house. It's existence.
Dept of Buildings/City Register
Yesterday's trip to the Municipal Building requires a follow-up visit. The Department of Buildings has no folder on 230 Corbin and if they had, it would have been located off-site in a New Jersey storage box which is the case for my family house.
My quest to find the architectural plans was to discover the actual date it was constructed, by which architect, and for whom exactly. Since I did not have the original owner's name I was told to look through these antiquated red Block books. They are filled with hand written entries, similar to the format St. Margaret Mary Church had for its records of the baptisms and deaths of its parishioners in the early 1900s.
The entries are chronological, but that is the only form of organization I could tell in my 5 minutes of research. The first page started with Coleridge St. The other difficulty is that the entries do not always list a house number. For instance, they state "Coleridge Street, 480 x 60, 300 feet from Esplanade. I'm not sure exactly where the distance markers would be taken since the Esplanade is pretty much gone. Google Earth shows that 230 Corbin is roughly between 555 or 590 feet away from the edge.
I skimmed quickly through it and happened upon a 1945 entry where 230 Corbin was transferred to Herman Field from Joseph P. Day. This transfer came after the tax photo was taken. I still want to see if there are any previous owners listed next time and when the house was actually built. But regardless, my findings show that the Fields owned the property for 63 years. I also spotted an entry that showed that the property that Washington Mutual (previously Lincoln Bank) was also owned by Joseph P. Day.
My quest to find the architectural plans was to discover the actual date it was constructed, by which architect, and for whom exactly. Since I did not have the original owner's name I was told to look through these antiquated red Block books. They are filled with hand written entries, similar to the format St. Margaret Mary Church had for its records of the baptisms and deaths of its parishioners in the early 1900s.
The entries are chronological, but that is the only form of organization I could tell in my 5 minutes of research. The first page started with Coleridge St. The other difficulty is that the entries do not always list a house number. For instance, they state "Coleridge Street, 480 x 60, 300 feet from Esplanade. I'm not sure exactly where the distance markers would be taken since the Esplanade is pretty much gone. Google Earth shows that 230 Corbin is roughly between 555 or 590 feet away from the edge.
I skimmed quickly through it and happened upon a 1945 entry where 230 Corbin was transferred to Herman Field from Joseph P. Day. This transfer came after the tax photo was taken. I still want to see if there are any previous owners listed next time and when the house was actually built. But regardless, my findings show that the Fields owned the property for 63 years. I also spotted an entry that showed that the property that Washington Mutual (previously Lincoln Bank) was also owned by Joseph P. Day.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Bay News May 8th article
Bay News Article online
In response I just wanted to say that Mr. Brodsky's statement that Corbin Place is without context is somewhat subjective. There is a historical context regardless simply by its location. For instance, the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Seton across from Battery Park is out of context among the tall office buildings.
I don't expect everyone to see the house's significance immediately. On a microcosmic scale, the house is linked to the rest of Manhattan Beach's eclectic style: wood framed houses recessed within the lot, stained glass windows, an appreciation for green space. On a macrocosmic scale, the house is a placemark on the boundary line of Manhattan and Brighton Beach.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Brooklyn Historical Society
I went to the Brooklyn Historical Society on my quest to find even more reason to preserve 230 Corbin Place but was not completely successful. Mapping done in the early part of the 20th century either seems incomplete as you get close to the shore or missing, most likely due to the changing shoreline or fact that the community was summer vacationing spot, not fully residential. I'm not sure.
The 1929 Sanborn Map is the only set BHS on file that showed something of the area. Even by the 1966 edition, Manhattan Beach had not been updated to reflect any construction. Weird. Only a few neighborhoods like Carroll Gardens were revised. Anyway, the 1929 map only detailed addresses/properties for the west side of Corbin Place not the east which is what I need. The west side have many vacant lots, one of which was being used as a tennis court. What I did learn, however, was that the shoreline behind the house did extend more than halfway up the length of Brighton Beach today, similar to the photo I've already posted. I also read that due to overcrowding on the Coney Island and Brighton beaches, the boardwalk was hydraulically lifted and moved northward to widen the beach.
Below is a portion of a map by E. Belcher Hyde Map Co. in 1913.
I believe the curvy line was the shoreline (?). I can't tell. But there appears to have been no houses built below the south side of Oriental Boulevard. This contradicts, of course, the estimation that 230 Corbin was built circa 1910.
The only other document of interest at BHS was correspondence regarding R. Moses' plan for re-constructing the esplanade to connect Brighton Beach and Manhattan. In a 1952 photograph of the southern end of Corbin, the apartment building can be seen. By 1955, the house closest to the water along the west side of Corbin (directly across from the apartment building) was under construction.
The 1929 Sanborn Map is the only set BHS on file that showed something of the area. Even by the 1966 edition, Manhattan Beach had not been updated to reflect any construction. Weird. Only a few neighborhoods like Carroll Gardens were revised. Anyway, the 1929 map only detailed addresses/properties for the west side of Corbin Place not the east which is what I need. The west side have many vacant lots, one of which was being used as a tennis court. What I did learn, however, was that the shoreline behind the house did extend more than halfway up the length of Brighton Beach today, similar to the photo I've already posted. I also read that due to overcrowding on the Coney Island and Brighton beaches, the boardwalk was hydraulically lifted and moved northward to widen the beach.
Below is a portion of a map by E. Belcher Hyde Map Co. in 1913.
I believe the curvy line was the shoreline (?). I can't tell. But there appears to have been no houses built below the south side of Oriental Boulevard. This contradicts, of course, the estimation that 230 Corbin was built circa 1910.
The only other document of interest at BHS was correspondence regarding R. Moses' plan for re-constructing the esplanade to connect Brighton Beach and Manhattan. In a 1952 photograph of the southern end of Corbin, the apartment building can be seen. By 1955, the house closest to the water along the west side of Corbin (directly across from the apartment building) was under construction.
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