Sam Eig
Samuel Eig | |
---|---|
Born |
1898 Smilovichi, Russia |
Died |
1982 (aged 83–84) United States |
Nationality | Russian-American |
Occupation | Real estate developer |
Known for | Development of Silver Spring, Maryland |
Net worth | $100,000,000 (1940) |
Sam (Zalman) Eig ( December 17, 1898[1] – December 1982) was an American real estate developer active in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.[2][3]
Biography
Eig was born in Smilovichi, Russia (now Belarus) to a Jewish family.[3] In March 1916[4], he immigrated to the United States[2] arriving first in Seattle then New York City and then in Washington D.C..[2] He worked various jobs as a bellboy, busboy, construction worker, and butcher’s assistant.[2] After a failed investment in a grocery store, he opened a liquor store in 1930s which was successful enabling him to buy a distillery. Using the earnings from this business, he started to invest in real estate in then undeveloped Silver Spring, Maryland. In 1944, he purchased the Silver Spring Shopping Center; and in 1946, he built the Eig Building.[2] Eig was a proponent of further development in Silver Spring and was an active member of the Silver Spring Board of Trade.[2] In the late 1930s, he personally developed 30 housing lots in Rock Creek Forest, after being denied financing from local banks.[2] Aware that people preferred to move to places that were more established, Eig donated land for the construction of community centers and churches[2] including a Red Cross building and Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring.[5] Eig was successful and by the late 1940s, his real estate holdings were valued at over $100 million.[2] He later expanded into hotels building the Washingtonian Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland in 1957 and the Georgian Motel in Silver Spring in 1961.[2] Until the passage of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, Eig used racially restrictive covenants to exclude African Americans and other racial minorities.[6]
Sam Eig Highway, a continuation of Interstate 370, was named in his honor.[3] Eig died in 1982 at the age of 83.
References
- ↑ ssdi. "Ancestry.com".
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Montgomery County Historical Society: "Immigration and Success - Samuel Eig" Archived 2014-10-22 at the Wayback Machine. retrieved October 18, 2014
- 1 2 3 Jewish Washington: "Real Estate Boom" retrieved September 18. 2014
- ↑ Passenger list. "Ancestry.com".
- ↑ Gaithersburgh: "Then and Now" retrieved October 18, 2014
- ↑ "Silver Spring's Jewish history 'long and complicated'". Washington Jewish Week. Retrieved 2018-08-25.