Historical Tenants / Programs:



From the directories



In 1913, 260 Crown Street was the residence of Currington Edward T and Munson Fred T. Aside from residences, plots 260-266 Crown St included the Beta Theta Phi Hall at Yale University (#264). In 1914 the first garage moved into the block at plot number 257. In 1916, a Mrs. Celia Pigeon retained the house but the adjacent plots 262-266 were occupied by The White Motor Co.



In 1921 when an electric company opened offices next door it may have encouraged the conversion of the house from traditional single family residential accommodation to student residences. A nurse by the name of Mary Bancroft let the house to students. It is possible that the extensions depicted in the Sanborn were part of preparing the house to be let for single room lodging. In 1923 however Mrs. Pigeon moved back into the house and continued to let it to lodgers. In 1925 while 260 Crown was listed in the New Haven directories as vacant, 261 Crown was listed as Lowndes H E Furnished rooms.



In the early 1930’s 260 Crown Street was the site of Auto Rental Co, a city garage. It was one of the earliest properties to acquire a telephone line. By 1935 John F Lawlor had moved his garage from 254 to 260 Crown. At this time there were 3 large garage spaces operational within the two blocks street front. By 1951 his business had expanded to include plots 260-266. Throughout the 1940’s and up to the mid-1950’s Lawlor successfully ran his auto parking and services garage at the site. Although the automobile section occupies a large portion of advertisements in the directories, no advertisements for garages at 260 Crown were found in the directories.



In 1956, the property was leased to the Hertz Corpoation for 10 years. In 1967 Joseph McLaughlin had bought the property. He continued to lease out offices to the Hertz Corporation but he moved his garage, Kirk’s Garage, to the site. In 1978 he also introduced a newsstand at the Garage, Crown News.



In the early 1980s the garages at 260 Crown Street changed ownership. In 1988 Professional Parking (Pro Parking) leased the property and remained in business at the site until 2009. In1995 Aladdin’s Restaurant opened which later renamed to Aladdin Crown Pizza. The owner of Aladdin’s Crown Pizza rented out the Garage and runs the business currently. The current owners of the properties at 254-266 are James and Joseph Salatto.



The New Haven directories count the number of residents and non-residents on the street in 3 years of print, 2001, 2003 and 2005. In this time the number of residents decreased from 116 to 67. This is however too short a period of time to draw any sufficient conclusions about recent trends.



Dana Archive



From the Dana Archives the most relevant article to developments at 260 Crown Street is titled ‘The Transformation in 1915 of Crown and Neighboring College St – from newspaper of April 25, 1915’. It supports the charting of development from residential to logding and finally to garages stating that business such as assembly halls and lodges for fraternities, warehouses, small stores, apartments, stores (tailors and professional services) grew rapidly on the two streets.



The following statement from the article characterizes the process of transformation from residential to commercial zoning. ‘There are not now left many tenants of even the home of 20 years ago in College Street or in Crown Street. Reluctant as some of the owners have been to move business has swept into the streets at such a pace as to force people to give up their residences in those streets and move elsewhere’.



City Planning Department, Zoning Maps



The City Planning Department at City Hall has two zoning maps dated 1956 that classify the plot as Business B. The Block between York and High on Crown Street adjacent to the 260 Crown Street’s block is classified as Residence. The strip of buildings facing this block are classified as business set in a business  block. The revised map in 1958 shows the 260 Crown Street’s block to be surrounded by  Business zones. (Zoning Map, City of New Haven, Connecticut, Prepared by Bureau of Engineering, June 14, 1934)



Sanborn Maps 1886-1978



In 1886, the property, 260-266 Crown Street, is marked as two separate buildings at 260 and 266 Crown of. The materials are marked as masonry with small extensions constructed in wood. Occupation at either building is not listed.



In 1901 the building footprints did not change, however, the building at 266 Crown Street has a mezzanine level removed (2 ½ to 2) and is marked Stucco. The building at 260 Crown has ‘tin clad 3rd’ written on part of the building indicating a temporary roof. It is unclear if this extended to the entire 3rd floor or as far as the highlighted wooden extension.



In 1911, 266 has undergone a small renovation removing the wooden extension and is listed as used by Covington Trust Associates. 260 Crown is listed under the name Cornelia E. H Baldwin and has retained its wooden extension. The area appears to be primarily residential between1886 to 1911.



In 1924 both sides of the block have transformed radically catering to commercial activity. Plots 266 and 254 are both garages, enclosing plot 260 that has retained the house structure. Plot 266 is completely built up and has the capacity of 100 cars. It has connection for heating (via steam), light (electric) and a fright elevator. The house on 260 Crown reflects the changing character of the street by the addition of an extra floor (from 3 o 4 storey). Additions in the remaining block include a Hebrew Institute, another garage, Dorscht Hall and The Hutchinson Apartments. It is worth mentioning the amenity plot behind 26 Crown has transformed in this time from an Italian Baptist Church to a Jewish Synagogue. By 1973 the house on 260 Crown St was demolished and the Garage extended to have a second street front entrance.



Short Description / Narrative:  



260 Crown Street has responded to the process of urbanization in New Haven. It is easy to imagine what may have been a townhouse at 260 Crown in the late 1800’s was then converted to a multiple family house and ultimately, in response to a population influx, a rooming house in the 1920’s. The New Haven Historic Resources Inventory (reprinted in 2000) states, as the city ‘grew into a major industrial, transportation and educational center. Its population went from 40,000 in 1861 to 108,000 in 1900’. As Yale College grew into Yale University in 1900 it’s institutes, fraternities and residences were sited at and around 260 Crown Street between 1900-1920s. Before the automobile industry usurped the function of the block in the 1930’s, the proximity of 260 Crown to the city downtown and what would be the center of Yale University encouraged professors and students to rent in the area. From the 1930’s onwards the property as well as the street developed an intensely automobile centered culture, functioning as a parking garage, mechanics workshop and car rental. The businesses at this site have done well, as maps and directories reflect their expansion over time to occupy adjacent properties and long lease periods (Hertz, Lawlor, Professional Parking).



 



Yale Library’s Manuscript’s and Archives,



White Brothers, Clark, Hall & Peck Records



The oldest record of the building at the Yale Library’s Manuscript’s and Archives, in the White Brothers, Clark, Hall & Peck Records, is of the will of Harry A. Leonard choosing to bequeath 260 Crown Street to New Haven Bank in trust, to reinvest the property as deemed fit and to use the income from his estate to pay for services, debt and to divide the remainder of the income in equal halves between his daughter and wife.  This income was to be paid in quarterly installments.  He passed away on the 10 of January 1930, at which point the bank took control of his property and executed his will. At the time of his death only his daughter survived him. Mr. Leonard left $6000 to two sisters and an additional $1000 to a children’s charity. The records include short transcripts describing the leasing of the property over time.



The next set of records show the resolution of a dispute between Joseph W McLaughlin and Hertz Corporation between April and October 1973. In 1967 Joseph W McLaughlin purchased the Lawlor property 260-266 Crown Street from J. Boone Wilson who was the Trustee for the stockholders of the Lawlor Corporation. At the time Mr. McLaughlin purchased the land he assumed that the tanks and pumps were part of the sale price. The Hertz Corporation had leased the property since 1957 for 10 years until it was purchased by Mr. McLaughlin.  The Corporation stated the said property (tanks, pumps) belonged to Mobil and that they should be remunerated for costs. This matter was investigated on behalf of Mr. McLaughlin by Clark, Hall and Peck. Through a letter from the Cities Service Oil Co to Mr. McLaughlin the Corporation claims $943 in associated costs in 1973.



The earliest documentation is of an extension of the lease to Mr. Carlos Witcher in 1936 to rent the property at 4000$ per annum for an additional year. The property when rented to the Hertz Corporation in 1957, for a duration of ten years, stated rent per annum to be $12000 for the first 5 years of the term and $13,000 for the latter five year period of the term. Thus the rent at 260 Crown Street tripled in a period of about twenty years between 1936-1957.



A letter, dated October 1973, from the previous lawyer Francais R Peisch stated that he did not have any records that might assist in resolving this dispute, as the lease of property by Mr. Peter P Lawlor in 1957 to Hertz Corporation did not describe the installation of any tanks or pumps. This could mean that the infrastructure existed at the time or that no records of its installation by Hertz were preserved. On this letter to Clark, Hall and Peck from Francis Peisch, is a hand written note in additional to his formal type written letter that reads, ‘I have seen other oil companies pull things like this before!’