Flatbush and Prospect Park South Historical Walking Tour, Brooklyn

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The house at 1000 Ocean Avenue in Flatbush is part of the Ditmas Park Historic District, a neighborhood of grand, single-family homes with the nickname "Victorian Flatbush." The house was designed by George Palliser and built for George and Adelaide Van Ness in 1899. The Colonial Revival style mansion features a projecting bay, a columned portico with replacement square columns, and a pediment with Palladian windows. When the mansion was listed for sale in 2021, it was described as "grand but crumbling." The five to seven-bedroom house plus its carriage house are looking for new owners for this fixer upper.

2. House at 183 Argyle Road

This historic Neo-Tudor Revival-style home was designed by John J. Petit in 1907. The half-timber style, popular centuries before in England, was making a comeback there in the early twentieth century as well as on this side of the Atlantic. The house was built for Herbert F. Krantz, a wealthy inventor and head of Krantz Manufacturing Company. The Argyle Rd. house is one of a couple hundred single-family homes in the Prospect Park South Historic District, a residential subdivision designed for the upper class in the early twentieth century.

3. Japanese House

The Japanese style house at 131 Buckingham Rd. was built from 1902 to 1903. Architects Petit & Greene designed the Japanese style house for the speculative developer Dean Alford, who had purchased 50 acres in 1899 to create an upper-class suburban enclave, Prospect Park South. This house was the only one of its kind in the development of Victorian single-family homes, and, while it attracted attention, it was slow to sell. The house cost more to build than any other house in the development, and finally sold in 1906 to Dr. Frederick S. Kolle. The house is within the Prospect Park South Historic District, containing 203 homes and listed in the New York and National Registers in 1983. The house continues to be an attention-getting private residence and retains architectural integrity on the outside and the interior.

4. Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church Complex

The stone church building towering over Flatbush Ave. at the corner with Church Ave. is the third church building that has stood on this site. The Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church building was finished in December 1796 and dedicated in January 1797. The surrounding churchyard burial ground has gravestones dated back to 1754. To the south of the churchyard are two historic outbuildings: the Parish House, constructed in red brick from 1922 to 1924, and the Parsonage, a wood-frame house built in 1853. The Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church building has been on the New York and National Registers of Historic Places since 1983 and is one of the oldest surviving church buildings in New York City. The church and the Parsonage were named New York City landmarks in 1966 and 1979, respectively. The building is still a church, owned by the Reformed Church in America.

5. Erasmus Hall Academy (now Erasmus Hall Educational Campus)

Brooklyn’s Erasmus Hall has the distinction of being one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. The school began in 1786 with funding from Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Aaron Burr, and Robert Livingston. In 1896, became the property of the city and was used as a public school. Gradually, a larger campus grew up around the original building, which sat empty for a time after Erasmus Hall High School closed in the 1990s. The original building is a New York City Landmark and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

6. Flatbush Town Hall

For two centuries, Flatbush was a separate village in Kings County. The brick building with the three-story, square corner tower at 29 Snyder Ave. was built in 1875 as Flatbush Town Hall. Flatbush became part of The City of Brooklyn in 1894, and part of the New York City Borough of Brooklyn in 1898. The building has historical ties to the local police force and courts. The High Victorian Gothic style building became a New York City landmark in 1973, one year after it was listed in the National Register. The building was saved from demolition and renovated in the 1980s. It now holds a New York City public school for special needs children.

7. Loew's Kings Theater

The Loew's Kings Theater stood abandoned for many years but has been saved and restored. The theater first opened on September 7th 1929 as Loew's Wonder Theater and served the Flatbush area until 1977. The 2015 renovations cost $95 million and adapted the theater to modern usage with an expanded stage house. The theater is now a performing arts venue called Kings Theater. The grand reopening featured Diana Ross performing a sold-out show on February 3rd, 2015. The Loew's Kings Theater was listed on the New York and National Registers in 2012. Historic-themed tours of the theater are offered for a fee on select Saturdays at 1pm (see the calendar of events link below).

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Flatbush and Prospect Park South Historical Walking Tour, Brooklyn

Created by Laurie Paonessa on March 21st 2022, 8:33:57 pm.

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Start in downtown Flatbush on Flatbush Ave. and walk through over 200 years of history, from a reborn theater to the former Town Hall, Erasmus Academy, and Reformed Church. Next, walk west to the Prospect Park South Historic District, a mainly residential subdivision from the early 20th century. Last, head south to a similar subdivision in Flatbush, the Ditmas Park Historic District, west of Ocean Avenue.

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Flatbush and Prospect Park South Historical Walking Tour, Brooklyn

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