3. Hetty Green, the “richest woman in America,” lived in Hoboken’s Yellow Flats
American businesswoman Hetty Green, the so-called “Queen of Wall Street,” had an apartment in Hoboken’s Yellow Flats. Green was known as the “richest woman in America” during the late 1800s and early 1900s, though her story was not all glamorous. She lived at 1203 Washington Street, paying just $19 a month, and chose Hoboken to avoid paying $30,000 in taxes in New York. She even left Hoboken, New Jersey after receiving a $2 tax bill for her dog’s license. From a young age, Green rejected many social norms of “proper” women of the Gilded Age; instead of trying to find a Wall Street husband, she spent hours eavesdropping on their conversations. After working for her father’s whaling business in New Bedford, she met her future husband, a millionaire who had business endeavors in Asia. Green left the country for London with her husband after a forgery lawsuit.
During this time, Green began to gain attention for her investing strategy, which she described as buying low and selling high. She made $1.25 million in her first year in London, and this grew significantly as she bought up railroad stock and mortgage bonds. She returned to the U.S. and moved to Vermont after her husband suffered major losses, and she ultimately had to pay off his debt so she could transfer her $26 million to another bank. Green then moved to New York and would live at various boarding houses and flats, all the while continuing to rake in millions. She gained a reputation for miserliness, never spending more than she had to, though some characterizations of her as cruel to business partners have likely been overstated. She would lend freely and at reasonable rates to city governments amid financial panics, contrary to many media reports.