This brief biographical sketch of Henry Landgrebe was found in his obituary published in the December 12, 1906 edition of the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle.”
Landgrebe was born in Germany and came to this country about 38 years ago when a boy, settling in New York until about fifteen years ago when he came to Valley Stream, where he engaged in the hotel business and later in the beer bottling business, in which he was engaged up to the time of his death.
Census records (1900) are in general agreement with the obituary indicating Landgrebe was born in Germany in 1854 and arrived in the United States in 1866.
As early as 1878 he was living on East 89th Street in New York City with the occupation of “Seegar” maker. He remained at various addresses in New York City up through 1889, after which he moved to Valley Stream, Long Island where he was associated with the Landgrebe Hotel.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps dated October, 1910 locate the hotel on the northeast corner of Rockaway Avenue and Scranton Avenue in Valley Stream.
He apparently operated the hotel in partnership with a family member (brother?) named Adam Landgrebe. Both were listed with “hotel” as their occupation in 1900 census records.
According to the Valley Stream Historical Society, in September 1894 School District 24 was organized and while the first schoolhouse was being built, Henry Landgrebe rented rooms in his hotel as classrooms.
When exactly Henry Landgrebe began bottling beer is not exactly clear. That being said, both Henry and Adam were listed as New York State Liquor Tax Certificate holders as early as 1898 so I suspect the bottling operation had commenced by that time and possibly sooner.
After Henry passed away in 1906, Adam remained listed with the occupation of “hotel” in 1910 and was listed as a New York State Liquor Tax Certificate holder through 1918. A year later, in September, 1919 Adam passed away. Adam’s wife Mary listed her occupation as “none” in 1920 census records and, as far as I can tell, no other Landgrebe’s mention “hotel” as an occupation in 1920 census records. This all suggests that both the hotel and bottling business had come to an end by then.
As early as 1934, a story in the October 5, edition of the “Brooklyn Times Union” stated that the Valley Stream Bank & Trust Co., occupied the old hotel site. Today, it’s a Chase bank.
The bottle I found is a champagne style with an applied blob finish. It falls within the 1890’s to 1906 range that Henry was involved with the business.