The View From Argyle Heights: An Urban Myth Type Situation
Was the three-story building on the southwest corner of East 12th Street and Avenue H, now commonly known as the Oak Hotel, ever a way station for Coney Island-bound travelers?
Time's up! The answer is: No, never, my fellow seekers of arcane Brooklyn information. 800 East 12th Street was built in 1905-1906 and was initially advertised as a luxury apartment building containing large units and a roof garden.
It did not become a hotel until the Depression – the earliest such reference is 1936.
A 1940 photo of shows a neon sign reading “Hotel Oak.”
In fact, travelers to Coney Island from Manhattan in the first decade of the 20th century had no reason to stay in hotels since multiple electrified rails, steam locomotives and trolley cars could take them to the shore in less than 30 minutes after alighting from a dozen ferry landings that jutted into the East River from Bay Ridge to Greenpoint and Long Island City.
The source of this urban myth appears to be the prevalence of what were called roadhouses along Coney Island Avenue and Ocean Parkway. These were large wood frame houses with bars on the ground floor and rooms above. Their customers were gamblers who frequented nearby race tracks that proliferated south of Prospect Park.
Old maps show a race track covering a large area just west of Coney Island Avenue below Avenue H. First known as Hall’s Driving Park when it opened in 1872, by 1899 it was called Shultz’s Driving Park, then Parkway Driving Club, and extended from the LIRR tracks to Avenue K and from Coney Island Avenue to East 8th Street. The track, initially a half-mile, was expanded to a full mile but it always was restricted to two uses: harness races and pigeon shooting.
It was not too hard to find negative information about the race track, the hotels that surrounded it and the men who frequented the taverns therein. There were plenty of gamblers, masquerading as horse lovers, and horse lovers who loved to gamble. But by 1906 all of it was gone. With all the vacant land surrounding West South Midwood being developed, the track had come to occupy prime real estate.
One of the most noteworthy roadhouses of the time was operated by the Tunison family at the northwest corner of Foster Avenue and Coney Island Avenue.
In May of 1896, following the suicide of old man Tunison, the hotel was converted to house 28 policemen. Back then, policemen would sleep many nights a week at their assigned station, so a hotel was not a bad choice. Unfortunately, apparitions of the deceased proprietor and other ghosts led to an exodus to another inn on Ocean Parkway in 1903 and eventually the 70 Precinct station house in 1910.
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| 1907: Rear of 800 East 12th St With Rooftop Apartments Visible in Upper Right |
Was the three-story building on the southwest corner of East 12th Street and Avenue H, now commonly known as the Oak Hotel, ever a way station for Coney Island-bound travelers?
Time's up! The answer is: No, never, my fellow seekers of arcane Brooklyn information. 800 East 12th Street was built in 1905-1906 and was initially advertised as a luxury apartment building containing large units and a roof garden.
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| 1909: Ad (Brooklyn Daily Eagle). One of Many Such Ads |
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| 1906: Ad for Housekeeper (Brooklyn Eagle). One of Many. |
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| 1910: Apt House on East 12th St & Avenue H ("Fiske Terrace" At Top of Postcard Was Then Much Better Known Than Oak Crest or West South Midwood) |
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| 1936 Ad Appeared Sep. 16th (Brooklyn Eagle) |
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| 1940: Now “Hotel Oak” Per Neon Sign on Far Right |
The source of this urban myth appears to be the prevalence of what were called roadhouses along Coney Island Avenue and Ocean Parkway. These were large wood frame houses with bars on the ground floor and rooms above. Their customers were gamblers who frequented nearby race tracks that proliferated south of Prospect Park.
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| 1905: Oak Apartments Circled in Red |
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| 1903 Rand McNally Map. (Pre-Oak Apartments - Red Circle). Note Racetrack |
One of the most noteworthy roadhouses of the time was operated by the Tunison family at the northwest corner of Foster Avenue and Coney Island Avenue.
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| 1880s: The Tunison Road House, NW Corner of Foster Avenue & Coney Island Avenue (Note: "Foster Avenue" Did Not Exist in the 1880s - It Was Just a Dirt Road |
In May of 1896, following the suicide of old man Tunison, the hotel was converted to house 28 policemen. Back then, policemen would sleep many nights a week at their assigned station, so a hotel was not a bad choice. Unfortunately, apparitions of the deceased proprietor and other ghosts led to an exodus to another inn on Ocean Parkway in 1903 and eventually the 70 Precinct station house in 1910.
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| 1983: Hotel Oak Now An SRO |
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| 2018: Oak Hotel Now Supportive Housing |
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Excerpt from "Brooklyn's Midwood" by Merlis, Rosenzweig & Israelowitz
| (See https://amzn.to/2U7FWNQ and https://amzn.to/2MD1tNH) |
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| 1899: Emerging Realty Developments In Area. Oak Apartments and Later Hotel Oak Named for Oak Crest Area (dead center in map) Source: NY Times, May 14, 1999 |