When James and Laureta Gale entered the basement of a run-down 1880s Brooklyn lodging house in 2024, they expected to find damaged walls, dust and old plumbing. Instead, beneath layers of dirt, they found a forgotten piece of history: a handwritten coal delivery schedule from 1901.
James’s grandfather had worked as a coal truck driver, bringing fuel from Pennsylvania’s Shenandoah Valley to New York City, according to People magazine. The discovery had a special meaning for the couple. During that same period, coal was used to heat brownstones and lodging houses across the city’s boroughs. James’s father was also born in Brooklyn, while his grandmother lived in the area.
A family connection to Brooklyn history
Finding the 1901 coal delivery schedule reminded the couple of how the building was used more than a century ago. As work on the upper floors approaches completion, the couple plans to frame and preserve the original 1901 delivery schedule. At that time, horses filled Brooklyn’s unpaved streets, and coal fireplaces were the main source of heat. James’s family connection to the neighbourhood’s industrial past gave the project a deeper personal meaning. His grandfather was among the delivery workers who used horse-drawn carts and early fuel trucks to carry coal across the East River. They delivered fuel to homes and other residential buildings like the one the couple is now restoring. They intend to display it inside the finished guesthouse as a lasting tribute to the building’s history and their family’s roots in New York City.