Atlantic Avenue Control House

The Atlantic Avenue Control House was built in 1908 as the entrance to the terminal of the Brooklyn lines of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT). It is the lone structure on the triangular island between Atlantic, Flatbush, and Fourth Avenues. Designed by Heins & LaFarge, the grand entryway is topped by an arched frieze reading "ATLANTIC AVENUE." The building began as a fancy entrance to the subway; later it became a concession stand. The former entrance doors have been removed and have been recycled as a skylight on the roof; the structure now serves as natural lighting into the IRT station below. The Atlantic Avenue Control House was listed in the National Register in 1980 as part of a grouping of four early IRT Subway Control Houses; the other three are in Manhattan and the Bronx and two more in Manhattan have been demolished.

Before the subway was built, there was an elevated railroad station above Flatbush Ave. to the northeast of the triangular island formed by Flatbush, Atlantic, and Fourth Ave. The Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Company's (BMT) Fifth Avenue Line was in operation until 1940; the elevated train system was demolished in 1941. The island itself was smaller in 1902 than it is now and contained a single building, made of brick faced with stone on three sides.

The Atlantic Avenue Control House was built as an ornamental entrance into the new subway stop. The building is one story tall, about 50 by 37 feet, and rests on a foundation of granite blocks. The walls are faced in buff-colored Roman brick with limestone quoins at the corners supporting a low gabled roof. There is a line of center-pivot windows under the eaves on the east and west sides; on the north and south gable ends are four casement windows below faux keystones. The non-gable sides also have three more windows covered with wire mesh. The gables are elaborate Dutch style decorated with scrolls, wreaths, and cornucopias; raised lettering spells "ATLANTIC AVENUE." The roof used to be made of terra cotta underneath standing-seam copper.

The Atlantic Avenue subway station was the last stop on the IRT Line in Brooklyn from 1908 to 1920. The Atlantic Avenue subway station became a connection between the IRT Line and the Long Island Railroad (LIRR). The Brooklyn terminal for the LIRR was across the street from the control house. Thousands of commuters traveling from Long Island to Manhattan made the switch from one train type to another near the control house. The connections are now underground, and the stop has been renamed Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center. Nine train lines pass through the Atlantic Terminal subway stop, making it one of the city's largest.

The Atlantic Avenue Control House was temporarily moved from its location in the early 2000s to undergo renovation and has been repurposed as a skylight for the subterranean subway stop. The Atlantic Avenue subway station beneath the Atlantic Avenue Control House was listed in the National Register in 2004.

Bedford, Steven. Vairo, Stacy. NRHP Nomination of Atlantic Avenue Subway Station (IRT and BMT), Brooklyn, N.Y.. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 2004.

Framburger, David J. NRHP Thematic Nomination of IRT Control Houses, Bronx, Kings, and New York Counties. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1979.

Historic Districts Council. Times Plaza and Atlantic Terminal and Times Control House, Six to Celebrate. Accessed December 30th 2021. https://6tocelebrate.org/site/times-plaza-and-atlantic-terminal-and-times-control-house/.