House and Building History

[Clinton Street houses], 1946, gelatin silver print, NEIG_0136; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. 

Introduction

The Center for Brooklyn History provides this guide for those researching houses, buildings, and properties in Brooklyn. In addition to these materials, researchers are encouraged to search the collections and research guides for more resources that may be relevant to their work. To create an appointment or ask a question, please contact cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.

Atlases

Our historic atlas collection serves a multitude of purposes and is particularly helpful when trying to determine the age of a building. The atlases are also helpful in determining addresses, many of which changed circa 1871–72. The bulk of the atlases are bound fire insurance maps, which show Brooklyn block by block. As the atlases advance chronologically, they also advance in technical sophistication. Depending on the level of detail, atlases can include information such as the material content of buildings, house and block numbers, content and condition of pavement, street status and usability, locations of sewers and water mains, locations of subway and rail lines, ward division lines, early 19th century farm boundaries and landowners, and locations of churches, schools, and factories. An index of the atlas collection, including years, surveyors and neighborhoods, is available.

With a Brooklyn Public Library card, you can also access FIMO—the Fire Insurance Maps Online database. You can search the maps by address, or browse by area and date. A tutorial is available.

You can also access many digitized insurance atlases from New York Public Library's Digital Collections and Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from the Library of Congress. 

Books

The following booklists highlight a number of titles in our collection that relate to popular house and building research topics:

Because these lists are not comprehensive, researchers are encouraged to browse the catalog for additional titles. Browse your results for related search terms that appear in the facets or bubbles below the title and call number (see example below, which includes facets for "19th century" "architecture" "buildings, structures, etc."). Use these to further your research. 

Because the book collection is non-circulating, titles cannot be placed on hold online. To request books, please contact us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org. Click "Add to list" under the book title to create your own booklist (sign in to your account first).

Brooklyn Land Conveyance Collection (1699–1896)
One land conveyance labeled with information about what the various sections are

The Brooklyn Land Conveyance collection documents Brooklyn land transfers from 1699 through 1896. Organized by block, these abstracts show seller (grantor) and buyer (grantee) information. To determine the block number for a specific property, just enter the address into the New York City Department of Buildings’ online database.  A tutorial is available in two parts: part one, part two. Please note that these are just abstracts, not the actual deeds. In many cases these abstracts are the only records for these early land transactions that have survived. Additional information on land transactions can be found in the New York City Grantors and Grantees indexes, available in the library, which cover the late 1700s to the 1850s. These indexes are arranged by name of the grantor or grantee and document who sold and purchased the property and on what date. They also include a liber and page number that enable location of the deed. The deed should include additional information, such as location of the property. The originals are held with the City Registrar, 144-06 94th Avenue in Queens. Microfilm / microfiche of these records is available at the Brooklyn office of the Department of Finance at 210 Joralemon Street . To view the land deed, take the liber/page numbers to Room 203 on the second floor. Here you can request the microfilm of the deed. Copies of the microfilm are available at $1 per page.

Additional property information can be found in the land value tax maps, covering 1910 to 1970. Scroll down to the land value tax map section for more information.

For records outside of the Center for Brooklyn History's collection, see the following:

Brooklyn & Long Island Scrapbooks

The Brooklyn and Long Island scrapbooks collection consists of newspaper clippings from the 1860s to the 1960s gathered from local Brooklyn and Long Island newspapers. Articles are viewable on microfiche and are accompanied by a navigational card index, which is separated into two sections: one on Long Island, the other on Brooklyn. Within each major division, the catalog is organized alphabetically by subject, individual, or business/organization. Each card lists the volume and page numbers on which its described contents can be found.

Directories

The collections include several types of city directories spanning the years 1822 to 1967, with one 1796 Brooklyn directory and one 1786 New York directory. The bulk of the directories are devoted to the city and borough of Brooklyn. A smaller portion of the collection covers or includes Manhattan, Queens, Long Island, and Newark, New Jersey. Many of our directories have been digitized and are available through the Internet Archive. A tutorial and a finding aid are available. Please note that directories covering 1796-1949 are held at the Center for Brooklyn History at 128 Pierrepont Street. Please email cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org to schedule an appointment. 1950-2017 directories are held at the Central branch at 10 Grand Army Plaza. Please submit the Book a Librarian form to schedule an appointment. 

City Directories—Residential. Organized alphabetically by last name, similar to a phone book, these directories list the name and address of an individual, often a resident’s occupation and work address, and sometimes race.

Business Directories. Most are organized alphabetically by trade, then alphabetically by last name, and list business address. Finding the relevant trade listing can sometimes be tricky. For example, when searching the address of an ancestor’s drinking establishment, no trade listing might be found under “Bars,” “Public Houses,” “Taverns,” “Liquors,” “Saloons,” or any other alternative term for a business premises where alcohol is served. But the address may be found under the antiquated “Wine and Liquors.”

By Address—Elite Directories (1873–1913).  These directories, issued by the Elite Publishing Company, are organized by address instead of by last name. By providing information on former residents, these are often helpful when tracking the social history of a particular building, and are often comprehensively cross-referenced with the “by name” directories.

Blue Books (1904–1962).  As the name suggests, these directories are a collection of society listings. They have a “by address” search in the back of the book, which is helpful when trying to discover who might have lived at a particular address.

Directories on Microfilm. The following directories are available on microfilm. Please note that some years may be stored off-site and require two weeks for delivery.

  • Brooklyn and New York City Directories
    • Brooklyn: 1796-1910, 1912-1914, 1933-34
  • Brooklyn Elite Directories
    • 1878-1882, 1885-1890, 1897-1899, 1901, 1905-1908, 1913, 1914
  • Brooklyn Classified Telephone Directory (Yellow Pages)
    • 1944-1977
  • Brooklyn Address Books ("criss-cross” directories)
    • 1929-1931, 1933-1961, 1963-1970, 1972-1980, 1986

If limited information provided by directories or genealogy indexes is stalling your research, it may be helpful to search the census by address. The 1950 census can be easily searched by enumeration district on Ancestry.com. For all other years, follow the steps outlined in this NYPL blog post.

Landmark Reports

Is the building you are researching part of a landmarked neighborhood? You can determine the answer by looking at this map from the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. If your building is within a landmarked neighborhood, it will be helpful to consult the designation report published by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. All reports are freely available on the LPC website and are also linked on the LPC map. Our library also contains print copies of most reports, which you can search in our online catalog. 

Letterhead

For buildings relating to a business, institution, or organization, the Brooklyn letterhead collection may be of interest. This collection spans 200 years of business in Brooklyn. Several thousand different businesses, institutions, and organizations are represented, including carpenters, plumbers, painters, city agencies, religious institutions, and more. This complete listing of the names, addresses, and dates from the letterhead collection should prove useful to genealogical researchers, those interested in the history of various industries in Brooklyn, neighborhood historians and many others. Many of the letterheads are visually interesting as well, with elaborate typefaces, intricate imagery, and archaic handwriting. This collection is stored off site and requires two weeks for delivery.

Newspapers

The Brooklyn Newsstand contains 44 local newspapers digitized in a partnership with Newspapers.com. Dates range from 1809–1964 and include Brooklyn-wide titles such as The Brooklyn Daily Eagle and Long Island Star, as well as small neighborhood papers such as Greenpoint Weekly Star and the Bay Ridge Home Reporter. Researchers can use the newsstand to keyword search articles by name, address, organization, and event. A tutorial can be found here. Additionally, a card index of marriage and death notices abstracted from the Long-Island Star and Brooklyn Evening Star for the years 1809–45 is available at the Center for Brooklyn History. 

Local Newspapers on Microfilm Collection holds numerous neighborhood newspapers covering the years 1835-1999. These newspapers contain local news in specific neighborhoods as well as borough, city, and national news. This collection includes additional years from titles that have been digitized as well as non-digitized newspaper titles.

Brooklyn High School Newspapers contains digitized news publications from Brooklyn high schools. School news receives the most attention in the papers, but community events, as well as matters of national and international interest, are reported on as well. The bulk of the papers in the collection span the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Many famous Brooklynites appear in the pages of these publications, such as Bobby Fischer (Erasmus Hall High School), Janet Yellen (Fort Hamilton High School), and Bernie Sanders (James Madison High School). For more details, see the finding aid.

Real Estate Brochure Collection (circa 1920s—1950s)

This collection primarily features advertisements for new apartment buildings, including some blueprints, and is organized by neighborhood. A hard-copy index with exact street addresses of the buildings included in the collection is available. A finding aid to the collection is available here, and an index by address is available in the library.

Outside Resources

The following is a select list of resources outside of the Center for Brooklyn History that are highly recommended:

Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library of Columbia University

For more about building research, the staff at the Avery has compiled an excellent research guide for researching NYC buildings. A major online resource is the Real Estate Record & Builder’s Guide, described as “a weekly report of building activity in New York City and its environs,” dating between 1868–1922. Also useful is the New York Real Estate Brochure Collection, a digitized collection of advertising brochures, floor plans, price lists and related materials that document residential and commercial real estate development in the five boroughs and outlying vicinities from the 1920s to the 1970s.

Building Technology Heritage Library

The Building Technology Heritage Library (BTHL) is primarily a collection of American and Canadian, pre-1964 architectural trade catalogs, house plan books and technical building guides. Trade catalogs are an important primary source to document past design and construction practices. These materials can aid in the preservation and conservation of older structures as well as other research goals. Search the metadata for materials tagged with "Brooklyn."

FultonHistory.com

FultonHistory.com is a vast and unwieldy - but often ripe - NYC and New York State online collection of digitized newspapers on microform.

Kings County Surrogate's Court

When looking into the social history of a building, you may want to see if any previous owners or residents had a will probated in Kings County.  If they did, you can find it in Room 109 on the bottom floor of the Surrogate’s Court. Wills may provide such details as contents and furnishings in the subject home, or whether a particular property was a rental. In addition, Brooklyn probate records for the years 1866–1923 have been digitized and made available online at the Kings County Estate Files website.

NYC Department of Buildings (DOB)

The Brooklyn office of the DOB is at 345 Adams Street, 3rd floor, Brooklyn, NY.  Building records can be viewed in person at the appropriate borough office. Request drawings, plans, or documents for properties located in New York City by submitting a Record Request online in DOB’s Building Information System (BIS) via DOB NOW: BIS Options. For additional information please click here.  These files can provide additional information often not available online and can offer clues to previous uses of a particular building, such as whether it was once a multi-family dwelling. Unfortunately, these files often do not include architectural plans.

NYC Department of Finance (DOF)

For land deed information from approximately 1896 to 1966, you will need to visit the City Registrar, 144-06 94th Avenue in Queens. The Brooklyn Real Property books are located in the Queens Business Center; however, microfilm/microfiche are still available at the Brooklyn office of the DOF at 210 Joralemon Street . The property books contain block and lot indexes, which show buyer/seller information from approximately 1900 to 1959. These indexes reference a liber and page number, which indicate the location of a particular land deed. To view the land deed, take the liber/page numbers to Room 203 on the second floor. Here you can request the microfilm of the deed. Copies of the microfilm are available at $1 per page.

NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC)

If the property you are researching is within a landmarked neighborhood, or if you live in a landmarked neighborhood within the five boroughs and you have a question about what you can and cannot do with your property, contact the LPC to find out if it has any files on that particular neighborhood.

NYC Municipal Archives

If you are interested in obtaining or viewing a photograph of a particular block and lot, the NYC Municipal Archives has the Tax Photograph Collection. Around 1940, a photograph was taken of every block and lot in the five boroughs.  Visit the archives in person at 31 Chambers Street in Manhattan to view the image on microfilm, or order a print directly from their website. You can also view the photos on an interactive street map at 1940s.nyc. 

ZoLa: NYC's Zoning and Land Use Map

ZoLa is a great place to begin building research. A simple address search will link you to the following information:

  • Property dates - Dates of construction and renovations
  • The Department of Buildings’ Digital Tax Map and Building Information System – Find block and lot numbers, certificates of occupancy, work orders, building violations, landmark status, etc. Be aware that many of the scanned certificates have been incorrectly matched with the addresses; make sure to read the certificate closely to see if it is indeed related to your block and lot.
  • The Department of Finance’s property information database, ACRIS - Searchable by block and lot number, includes land deeds going back to 1966.
  • Historic districts, historical zoning maps, and more.