291 State Street House

291 State Street | Boerum Hill | built 1872

Open on the map4 entries

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1. 1872

   Builder Michael Murray buys the State Street lots from the Schermerhorn family

   In 1872 Michael Murray bought the land for Nos. 289 to 295 State Street from William Schermerhorn and began building houses on the largely undeveloped north side of the street. The Schermerhorns were an old, wealthy Dutch family of Brooklyn landholders, and Schermerhorn Street, one block north, is named for them.

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

2. 1872

   Builder Michael Murray completes 291 State Street as an Italianate brownstone in a row of six houses

   Michael Murray, a local builder living at 240 DeKalb Avenue, put up 291 State Street in 1872 as one of a row of six houses, Nos. 289 to 299. Its brownstone front is 25 feet wide and three stories tall above a rusticated basement. A high stoop leads to an arched doorway under a segmental-arched pediment.

   “…erected as part of a row of six houses (Nos. 289 - 299), by Michael Murray, a local builder who lived at 240 DeKalb Avenue…”

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

3. 1873

   Sarah Hayes Sherman, wife of a grocer, becomes the first owner and occupant of 291 State Street

   The first owner and occupant of 291 State Street was Sarah Hayes Sherman, whose husband, Frederick Taylor Sherman, was a grocer. The couple acquired the property in 1873. The house is one of a row of six built by Michael Murray.

   “The first owner and occupant of the house was Sarah Hayes Sherman, wife of Frederick Taylor Sherman, a grocer; they acquired the property in 1873.”

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

4. 1973

   November 20

   The Landmarks Preservation Commission designates the 291 State Street House a landmark

   Report LP-0744, dated November 20, 1973, designated the house at 291 State Street and its tax lot (Brooklyn block 170, lot 47) a landmark. The hearing on June 23, 1970, where this house was Item No. 57, had drawn twenty-six witnesses for preserving Boerum Hill, and nobody spoke against designating the State Street houses. The Commission called No. 291 a fine example of the late Italianate style and part of a handsome row of five that adds to the character of the neighborhood.

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Nearby

• 293 State Street House293 State Street | 3 entries
• 295 State Street House295 State Street | 3 entries
• 297 State Street3 entries
• 299 State Street House299 State Street | 5 entries
• 314 State Street5 entries
• 312 State Street2 entries

All 27 buildings with stories in Boerum Hill