Richard Wright, one of the country's most respected writers, arrived in New York in 1937. Though he is often associated with the Harlem Renaissance, the artistic flourishing of Harlem was largely over by the time of his move to the city, and the writer lived in Brooklyn rather than Harlem. Wright lived in a few apartments in Brooklyn, including a rented room in the home of his friends, Herbert and Jane Newton, who were active in the Communist Party.&nbsp; Wright eventually settled at 175 Carlton Avenue, and it was here, as well as the Newton home, that Wright wrote his opus, Native Son. According to friends of Wright from the time, the writer would often walk to nearby Fort Greene Park where he would sit on a bench and write. Jane Newton remarked that when Wright lived with the couple, he rose early in the morning, walked to the park and wrote for several hours. Apparently Wright maintained this schedule regardless of the weather; Newton remarked that he often returned soaked from rain. Native Son was published in 1940. Wright, who began writing as a very young man, was already a published author, but Native Son brought him success far beyond any of his previous work. It was the first book by an African American author to be selected as a Book-of-the-Month Club and it was a adapted as a play by Orson Welles in 1941.&nbsp; Wright's time in Brooklyn lasted only a few years. He left the United States in the mid-1940s, living for a few months in Quebec, then moving to France. He lived in France for the remainder of his life and became a French citizen. He died in Paris in 1960, but because of his powerful works such as Native Son and Black Boy, Brooklyn continues to attract African American writers and artists who are influenced by Wright.

Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood has been home to a number of acclaimed writers. During the 1930s, the neighborhood was home to Richard Wright, one of the country's most highly regarded chroniclers of the African American experience. During his time in Brooklyn, Wright wrote one of his most well-known novels, Native Son. It was in Fort Greene Park, near his apartment, that Wright would often go and write, and his bench in the park is now marked by a plaque.

Former Home of Richard Wright 

Start at historical Ft. Greene Park and stroll by the monument to Revolutionary War martyrs and Joseph Person Square. Next, walk by historical mansions, a stable, a factory complex, an old age home, and a tenement building from the Clinton Hill neighborhood's heyday in the 2nd half of the 19th century.  

During the early stages of the American Revolution, the Fort Greene area&nbsp;(known as&nbsp;Fort Putnam at the time) was used for fortification before the Battle of Long Island. The forts were created&nbsp;as a means of protection in case of a British invasion. At the time, multiple fortresses and other defensive towers were created as well. The raised terrain of&nbsp;Fort Greene Park gave an advantage to the American troops, as it provided vision against any incoming enemies. Fort Greene, Fort Putnam, and Fort Box were&nbsp;three primary defensive forts strategized by the Continental Army in the Brooklyn-Long Island area. After the events of the Revolution, Fort Putnam was demolished due to its lack of use. Once the War of 1812 began, however, the fort was rebuilt and renamed Fort Greene to honor Major General&nbsp;Nathaniel Greene. Similar to its use in the previous war, Fort Greene was prioritized as a defensive fort in case of a British invasion that would come&nbsp;from further Long Island. As the threat of war faded away over time, the fort and the surrounding areas&nbsp;were used by the Fort Greene community as a public space. People of all ages began using the area for many activities.&nbsp;The movement for Fort Greene&nbsp;to be an official public park, however, had not fully initiated until the efforts of many activists, including&nbsp;American poet Walt Whitman. Walt Whitman, at the time, was the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a Brooklyn newspaper that was once the most popular paper in the country. After a long struggle with city officials, Whitman's efforts paid off as the Fort Greene&nbsp;area was bought from the&nbsp;Cowenhoven family&nbsp;in 1842.&nbsp;The park was later completed in 1947&nbsp;and was called Washington Park.&nbsp;Later, in the year&nbsp;1896, the park was redesigned by Frederick Law Oldmsted and Calvert Vaux, two men who held a very high reputation for being the country's top landscaping architects.&nbsp;After the remodeling, Washington Park was named the Fort Greene Park as it still is today.&nbsp; Throughout the year, there are&nbsp;countless activities and events that are held in the park. These festive events celebrate culture, the environment, and sometimes even political events. Annually, the&nbsp;Fort Greene Park Summer Literary Festival is held, which gathers children, young adults,&nbsp;and accomplished&nbsp;writers to celebrate literacy.&nbsp;Another event that took place in recent times was the controversial Edward Snowden statue. In efforts to celebrate the privacy activist&nbsp;Edward Snowden, a statue had been raised by his supporters&nbsp;in the park. Consequently, the park officials had the statue removed the same day. In order to protect Snowden's legacy, however,&nbsp;his supporters erected a projected hologram of Snowden's face.

Fort Greene Park is regionally known as an important landmark in history. Named after American Major General Nathaniel Greene, the park holds significance for the American  Revolutionary War as well as the War of 1812. Today, the park is commonly used for its playgrounds, basketball and tennis courts, and for the many enriching events that are held throughout the year.

Fort Greene Park

From their capture of New York in 1776 until the formal end of the war in 1783, British forces in New York used damaged or decommissioned warships anchored in Wallabout Bay to hold American prisoners. These included American troops captured on the battlefield, American privateers apprehended on the high seas, and civilians arrested for aiding and abetting the rebellion. In the crowded, damp, vermin-infested hulls of these vessels, American captives died in droves from disease and malnutrition. When prisoners died, the British either dumped their bodies overboard or buried them in shallow graves along the shore. The most infamous of these New York prison ships was the HMS Jersey, which American prisoners nicknamed “Hell.” During the war, over 11,500 Americans died aboard these floating prisons, more than the total number of Americans who died in battle during the conflict.  Beginning in the early nineteenth century, various groups worked to provide for not only the proper burial of the remains of the so-called prison ship martyrs, but also a suitable monument in their honor. In 1808, residents of Brooklyn buried the partial remains of some of the victims in a tomb on what is now Hudson Avenue, near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Several decades later, in 1873, the remains were moved to Washington Park and placed in a brick vault. The City of Brooklyn established the park in the 1840s. The former site of Fort Putnam, which the British captured when they took New York in 1776, the park was redesigned in 1867 by renowned landscape architects Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux, who also designed Central Park in Manhattan and Prospect Park in Brooklyn.  Near the end of the century, government officials, historical societies, and private citizens began calling for the creation of a new monument in Washington Park to honor the prison ship martyrs. In 1905, renowned architect Stanford White of the firm McKim, Mead, and White was commissioned to design the monument. Composed of a 149-foot-tall freestanding Doric column topped with a bronze decorative lantern designed by sculptor Adolph Alexander Weinman, the monument sits on a plaza at the top of a one-hundred-foot-wide granite staircase. Perched on fluted shafts at the four corners of the plaza are four bronze eagles, also designed by Weinman. Beneath the monument lies a crypt, which holds the remains of the prison ship martyrs. On November 14, 1908, the monument was dedicated and the park renamed Fort Greene Park. Among those in attendance at the dedication ceremony was President-elect William Howard Taft.  In the years since its dedication, the monument has undergone a number of alterations and renovations. In 1937, an elevator and stairs were installed inside the monument, but the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation removed both in 1948 during a restoration effort. In the 1960s, Weinman’s bronze eagles were placed in storage after years of vandalism. A full restoration of the monument, which included a deep cleaning of the column and plaza, repairs to both, and the reinstallation of the bronze eagles, was completed in 2008.

Designed by architect Stanford White and located in Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn, the Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument honors the more than 11,500 American soldiers, sailors, and civilians who died aboard British prison ships anchored in Wallabout Bay during the American Revolution. Dedicated on November 14, 1908, the monument consists of a 149-foot-tall freestanding Doric column topped with a bronze decorative lantern, designed by sculptor Adolph Alexander Weinman. The column stands on a plaza at the top of a one-hundred-foot-wide granite staircase. Perched on fluted shafts at the four corners of the plaza are four bronze eagles, also designed by Weinman. Beneath the monument lies a crypt, which holds the remains of the so-called prison ship martyrs.

Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument

Just North-East of Fort Greene Park is a small plot of land located on the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Carlton Avenue. Adjacent to the plot, the Walt Whitman Houses are situated. They were constructed to provide homes for the Brooklyn Navy Yard workers in 1944. Then in 1951, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation acquired this square and named it to honor Joseph Walter Person (1892-1918) in accordance to local law. Person was a resident of Borough Park, Brooklyn, and served as a pay clerk in the United States Navy during World War I (1914-1918). He served in the United States Navy until the age of 26. He died of pneumonia during his service. The pneumonia may have been a result of the flu epidemic at the time. He was then buried in Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York. Today the park is a hub for locals to congregate and socialize. There are benches and trees to provide shade and a place to rest for anyone passing by. The square became part of a program (Greenstreets) in 1986 to turn paved street areas into green spaces.

This small plot of land is located a couple of blocks away from Fort Greene Park. It was named after Naval officer Joseph Walter Person in 1951. Person served in the United States Navy during the First World War (1914-1918). He passed away at a young age before the war's end. He was buried in Queens and is today honored by this little square in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

Joseph Walter Person Square 

Wealthy Brooklynites in the nineteenth century typically owned their own stables to store their horses. For those without a private stable, commercial stables were established for boarding horses. The stables tended to be located on the fringes of residential neighborhoods in wood frame structures. Due to fire hazards, masonry stables became preferable and the only kind city regulations allowed for new construction. Meyer Feuchtwanger purchased the 25 by 100-foot lot on Carlton Avenue in November 1877 from Ellen R. and Ellen A. Hansen, the widow and heir, respectively, of Henry Hanson; Feuchtwanger paid $3,750.The stable's third story windows feature arches below a brickwork cornice. Some of the building's trim is in sandstone. The stable at 159-161 Carlton Avenue was known as Gilbert's Stable by 1890; Gilbert's Stable used to be located at Cumberland Street at the corner with Fulton, as of 1878. By 1904, the stable was operated as "Chapman and Company" and was physically connected to a four-story brick building that fronted on Myrtle Avenue at #350; the four-story building used the fourth floor for storage. Meyer Feuchtwanger had purchased the Myrtle Avenue lot from Sarah Danzig in 1893 for $4,050. He soon filed paperwork to build a four-story extension of his stable on the new lot, to cost $11,000. The four-story brick extension was to be 25 by 76 feet. Another livery stable was located across Carlton Avenue from Feuchtwanger's by the 1890s; the competitor was Israel's Livery Stable.The brick building to the south of the stable was already a candy factory in 1904, Walter W. Debevoise Chocolates &amp; Bonbons. The two neighbors' windows may have made for an interesting mixture of aromas! The factory likely expanded north into the adjacent former stable. After the candy factory moved out of 159-161 Carlton, the building became a storage warehouse. Next, it housed an auto repair garage. The building's interior burned in the 1980s during an arson fire. The structure was then boarded up and vacant for many years.After being nominated to the National Register in 1986 for its architectural significance, the still-vacant building was renovated by Anderson Associates, using tax credits for reusing historic buildings. The building now contains 12 boutique condominium residences featuring high ceilings, exposed brick, and wood-burning fireplaces.

The red brick building with the triple arched entrances was built as Feuchtwanger Stable around 1888. The three-story building, at 159 Carlton Avenue, is Romanesque Revival style. Meyer Feuchtwanger hired a prominent local architect, Marshall J. Morrill, to design the commercial stable. The entrances were designed to fit a horse-drawn carriage. Ramps once led to the top two stories where the horses were boarded. The building became a candy factory in 1913 and later was a warehouse. Feuchtwanger Stable was listed in the National Register in 1986. The building now houses people in condominium residences.

Feuchtwanger Stable

After Charles Pratt (1830-1891) moved to New York City in 1851 from his native Massachusetts, he spent a few years working for a dealer in oils, paint, and glass and then formed a 13-year-long partnership with C.T. Reynolds and F.W. Devoe. The firm was split up by type of product, with Pratt taking the oils portion. Pratt formed Charles Pratt and Company with Henry H. Rogers; they refined crude oil in a large factory in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn. One of the firm's most successful products was "Astral Oil." He formed a partnership with the Rockerfellers in what became the Standard Oil Company.Philanthropy was an important part of Charles Pratt's life, especially in the area of local educational institutions. He donated tens of thousands to Adelphi Academy after fire damaged one of its buildings in 1889. He founded the Pratt Institute nearby on Ryerson Street to train students in the technical trades at nominal cost; over 3,200 students studied there in 1890 (the Pratt Institute has its own Clio entry).Charles Pratt spent the last day of his life, May 4th 1891, doing his usual routine: he left his Clinton Avenue home in the morning, stopping first at the Pratt Institute to meet for about an hour to discuss possible improvements to the institution. He then went to his office at the Standard Oil Company at 26 Broadway in Manhattan. His last meeting was mid-afternoon when he wrote a check to donate to the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities. He soon complained of chest pains and rested on the sofa in his private office. He tried to get up and walk but fainted and was caught by his secretary and one of his sons. Physicians and his family were called to the office, but Charles died several hours later. His remains were transferred that evening to his Brooklyn mansion, described in his obituary as the finest private residence in Brooklyn. The adjacent conservatory where Charles loved to spend free time with his flowers was the largest in the city. The city's flags flew at half-staff on the day of his memorial service.A huge crowd attended Charles Pratt's memorial service in May 1891 at Emmanuel Baptist Church. Speakers mentioned some quotes that Charles Pratt told them or wrote down; one is "I feel that life is so short that I am not satisfied unless I do each day the best I can." Another is "The greatest humbug in the world is the idea that the mere possession of money can make anyone happy. I never got any real satisfaction out of mine until I began to do good with it." A local newspaper article from 1892 described the late Charles Pratt as the richest man in Brooklyn at the time of his death, with his earnings from oil refining and the transportation industry. His widow and second wife, Mary H., was listed among the city's millionaires, along with other heirs of Charles Pratt, his eight children: Charles M., Frederick B., George D., Herbert L., John S., Harold I., and Miss Helen F. Pratt; and Mrs. Lydia R. Babbitt. Charles bequeathed his home plus an annual endowment of $50,000 per year to his widow for life, unless she remarried. Pratt Institute received millions in cash and real estate, including the lots and buildings on campus. Mary H. Pratt died in 1907. The youngest son, Harold I., lived in the house until 1916.

This brick house was built in 1874 for Charles Pratt, a wealthy businessman in the oil industry. Architect Ebenezer L. Roberts designed the building in a style transitional between Italianate and Neo-Grec. The Charles Pratt Mansion is part of the Clinton Hill Historic District, listed in the New York and National Registers of Historic Places in 1985 and containing significant buildings from the 1840s to 1930. Clinton Hill was largely rural until the 1840s and became the home of affluent Brooklynites like the Pratts, coffee merchant John Arbuckle, and lace manufacturer A.G. Jennings. The Pratt family sold the house to St. Joseph's College in the 1930s and it became the convent for the nuns who taught in the women's college, founded in 1916. It now serves as Founders Hall in the coeducational college.

Charles Pratt Mansion

A number of historic companies contributed to the power plant: Rutzler and Blake supplied generators, as did the Harris-Corliss Company; boilers and piping were provided by Logan and Company; the furnaces were installed by Worthington Company and fed up a 124-foot stack built by Custodis Chimney Company. Thomas Edison’s Illuminating Company were commissioned to install the building’s electric lighting, and an elevator leading up the seven main stories of the building was incorporated by the Otis Elevator Company. By 1896, the boilers were replaced, and three more added, with the latest Babcock and Wilcox models. At this point, they switched from burning kerosene – perhaps that extracted by Charles Pratt’s own industry – to coal. Four years later, three brand new red generators were installed, yet at that point, the Steamworks were getting quite crowded with machinery. The so-called Machinery Room was therefore built in 1912, and the whole operations of the previous room moved to the new location (the old room would become the Institute’s coal bunker). In the process, the old chimney stack was replaced with a new, 165-foot tall one built by the original company. During the First World War, the campus was used as a mechanical repair training center for the Army. In the 1950s, many of the oldest boilers and trappings were removed and replaced.

Joseph Foster was the first Chief Engineer, a title that requires a tremendous amount of responsibility and skill. Conrad Milster became the fourth Chief Engineer in 1958&nbsp;and has expressed his commitment to manage the Steamworks for the rest of his working life. Each year on New Year’s Eve, he releases all of the steam whistles at once in celebration, clouding the campus in an atmospheric fog of oily steam. Staff, students, and visitors are all attracted to this technological and aesthetic marvel. The engine room is fitted with dark woodwork, ancient pipes and pressure gauges, gilded chandeliers, glimmering brass railings, and a magnificent glass dome. A raised observation balcony enables visitors to watch the Chief Engineer work, and some students choose to enjoy practicing their artistic skills in the warm, subterranean room.

Since the 19th century, Pratt Institute has been heated by this historic power plant that can be found in the basement of the Institute. To this day, the Steamworks provide heating for the entire campus and is managed by a single person. The power plant was built in 1887, with steam-driven generators added in 1900, making this one of the oldest Steamworks in the United States and the world.

Pratt Institute was built by Charles Pratt, a Massachusetts-born petroleum industrialist and philanthropist. In 1885, he bought the plot of land in Clinton and commissioned the New York architectural firm of Lamb and Rich to build a ten-story building for Brooklyn’s students, and the first classes started in 1887.

Pratt Institute Steamworks

Brooklyn attorney and paint manufacturer John B. Graham took the lead in providing assistance to elderly women with no remaining relatives or local friends who no longer had the means to continue the genteel standard of living they had become accustomed to. With his financial support and others, Brookly residents worked to create a local institute that could provide housing and assistance for elderly women in their community. A board of managers was formed that represented 26 churches and seven men formed an advisory committee. Graham donated land at the corner of Washington and DeKalb Avenues where the home was constructed; the cornerstone was laid on July 1, 1851. The home's original name was the Brooklyn Society for the Relief of Respectable Aged Indigent Females. The home was later renamed the Graham Institute for Aged Females. The first fundraising party for the home raised $400 in December 1852. When John B. Graham died in 1893, he was in the midst of plans to add two more brick buildings on lots adjacent to the Graham Institute. He bequeathed the home for over $13,000.The home was renamed the Graham Home for Old Ladies in the early twentieth century. By 1914, there were 80 women living there and the waiting list held 43 names. The home began hosting an annual bazaar in 1913 featuring handicrafts made by the residents, a home-cooked turkey dinner, and tours of the facility. The home had strict rules for residents, and consequences for breaking them could include eviction as a 75-year-old woman discovered in 1920 when she was forced to leave for "bad behavior" after living there for 11 years. The reported violations included refusal to allow entry into her room for inspection, the use of foul language, and disturbing the other residents. She was sent to live at the Poor Farm on Staten Island.The home includes many more positive stories of residents. For example, Rachel Fayette celebrated her 104th birthday at the Graham Home in 1935. Her late husband was said to be related to the Marquis de Lafayette but had shortened his last name. Mrs. Fayette loved to knit and was given an award for the knitted goods she contributed during World War I. Although she shared a birthday with George Washington, she thought that Lafayette was a better soldier than Washington. Fayette lived at the home for 22 years. A Brooklyn resident for 72 years, she was remembered for sharing stories of the borough before the Brooklyn Bridge.A 1947 source reveals the requirements for eligibility to live at the Graham Home. At that time, a woman needed to be at least 65 years old and a Brooklyn resident for at least five years. They had to submit testimonials on their respectability of character and propriety. Fees were $1,000 for a room (up from the original $50), and furniture could be brought in with the new resident. After a six-month probationary period, the woman was welcome to spend the rest of her life at the home. The home provided meals, lodging, care, and hospitalization for its 69 residents in 1947. A hospital wing contained 12 beds and was staffed by three nurses. Committees of volunteers organized regular visits, monthly socials, and local churches sent a minister to lead services in the home's chapel each Sunday. The Graham Home was the second oldest surviving institution of its kind in New York City, with the oldest being the Presbyterian Home for Women in Manhattan. Unlike most of the similar institutions in Brooklyn, the Graham Home was still in its original location in 1950. While the 2002 renovations updated the interior of the former Graham Home, the exterior was restored, and the grounds have been landscaped. The building now contains 25 condominium residences and is adjacent to a public park, Underwood Park.

This four-story red brick building in the Clinton Hill neighborhood was built in 1851 for the Brooklyn Society for the Relief of Respectable Aged and Indigent Females. The group home was later known as The Graham Home for Old Ladies in honor of donor John B. Graham. The building offered housing for as many as ninety widows and other elderly women and contained a hospital, chapel, and meeting areas. The Society later added a library, more bedrooms, and an outdoor porch. The group home operated for over a century and closed due to funding issues in the early 1960s. After closing, the building was used as a motel with a notorious reputation that included prostitution. The motel closed in 1986, and the building was boarded up and vacant until it was renovated in 2001 and converted into luxury condominium apartments.

The Graham Home for Old Ladies

Cornelius Nevius Hoagland (1828-1898) was born in New Jersey and received medical training in Ohio in the 1850s. He joined the Union Army from Ohio and was appointed the surgeon of the Seventy-First Ohio Infantry in 1861 and served throughout the war. Cornelius and his little brother, Joseph C. Hoagland (1841-1899) formed a partnership in 1866 to market baking powder. Cornelius moved to Brooklyn in 1868. In 1873, Cornelius was head of the Royal Baking-Powder Company when he received a trademark for the brand. The Royal Baking Powder Company became the largest seller of the product in America. The Hoagland brothers were sued by a business partner, William Ziegler, in a case that was decided in the Brooklyn courts in 1888. Ziegler claimed that the brothers' annual salaries were exorbitant at $50,000 for Joseph C. as President and $30,000 for Cornelius as Vice President. The court agreed and recommended salaries of $15,000 and $10,000. It appears that the brothers left the company and started a rival company, Cleveland Baking Powder Company. "Cleveland's Superior Baking Powder" was trademarked in 1890. A newspaper ad by the Cleveland company in 1890 disparaged an unnamed company that touts its "pure" baking powder and explains how to test for the presence of ammonia.Cornelius founded the Hoagland Laboratory around 1888 at Long Island Hospital (now demolished) and was President of its Board of Directors by 1898. Cornelius was a member of many organizations including the Oxford Club, the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, the Long Island Historical Society, and the American Geographical Society of New York. He contributed to many charitable causes and was a major donor to the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital and the Brooklyn Free Kindergarten Society. At the time of his death at home in April 1898 after a short illness, Cornelius was President of the Cleveland Baking Powder Company at 81-83 Fulton St. in Manhattan. He was survived by a widow and three children: Cora A. (Mrs. George T. Tangeman), Luella J. Hoagland, and Elizabeth K. (Mrs. Charles O. Gates).The lot of land for the Hoagland Mansion bordered two streets, with the mansion facing Clinton Avenue and a two-story brick carriage house at the rear of the lot facing Vanderbilt Avenue. The architects, the Parfitt Brothers, were three Englishmen. They used the sunflower motif, representing home and family, in several places in their Queen Anne style design for the house. The mansion used to have a front porch which has been removed. The Hoagland heirs sold the mansion in 1906 to Alfred Cotton Bedford, an associate of Charles Pratt in the oil industry. Bedford later became Chairman of the Board at Standard Oil. A wholesale food broker, George Mendes, sold the house in 1947. The 20-room single-family house was then divided into multiple residential suites.

The house at 410 Clinton Avenue was designed in 1882 for Cornelius N. Hoagland by the Parfitt Brothers. Dr. Hoagland made his fortune in baking powder through two different companies. The monochrome red brick and terra cotta asymmetrical building is Queen Anne style. The Cornelius Hoagland Mansion is part of the Clinton Hill Historic District, a neighborhood popular for building residences for the wealthy by the 1850s. The 20-room single-family home was divided into multiple suites in the mid-twentieth century and now holds 17 residential units.

Cornelius Hoagland Mansion

Arthur and Cynthia purchased the building on Downing Street in 1979. They paid two thousand dollars for the former Brooklyn Trolley Building at a time when the neighbourhood of Clinton Hill was gradually succumbing to drug problems. Over the next few decades, they started modifying and adding to the relatively plain building, accepting the help of their two children and neighbours who collected the materials. The original 42-foot structure almost tripled in size as a series of platforms, walls, windows, and ceilings were constructed of salvaged glass bottles, recycled wood and bricks, reclaimed statues, and pilfered fire escape ladders – Arthur even wanted to incorporate a helicopter into the design.Whilst the additions were hardly stable – visitors would break into a cold sweat when climbing the rickety staircases – the house was remarkably long-lasting. However, in 2006 a fire gutted large parts of the upper storys of the building. Following the fire, the couple were hopeful about redeveloping the building whilst they camped in a nearby neighbour’s yard. They even started installing plumbing and electrical lines and restoring the building’s floors and walls in partnership with a local developer, Shahn Andersen. However, they failed to keep up with a four million dollar bank loan that was subsequently rescinded. The Woods had to foreclose on the Broken Angel House in 2013.Today, Arthur and his family live in Beacon, New York. The property on Downing Street was sold to Barrett Design &amp; Development LLC in 2014, who have demolished much of the structure and exhibit plans to turn it into ten modern luxury condos. However, some elements from the Broken Angel can still be seen to this day. Two bas-relief concrete masks are set into an interior stairway, and some of the condos will feature the original exposed brick fireplaces that were used by the Woods.

The Broken Angel House was a four-story brick tenement building in Brooklyn's Clinton Hill neighborhood that was purchased by self-taught architects and artists Arthur and Cynthia Wood in 1979 and expanded and modified to reach a height of over 100 feet along with unique architectural features in the coming decades. The building – named after an appropriated cherub statue from Staten Island – was immediately recognizable for its tall spire on the roof. The building was also the setting for Dave Chappelle's 2006 film Block Party. The Woods used the building as their family home and even had aspirations to turn it into an architectural school, but a fire in 2006 resulted in the Department of Buildings finding the structure in fault of building codes. In 2013, after some failed attempts to secure the crumbling walls and develop the building into apartments, the Woods were evicted, and the next year the property was sold. The site was later purchased by a developer for the construction of luxury condominiums.

Broken Angel House (1979-2014)

In the late nineteenth century,wealthy Brooklynites, like their counterparts in Manhattan, formed numerous social clubs that catered the well-heeled and politically connected. The consolidation of the five boroughs in 1898 meant, as many in Brooklyn feared, that their city--one of the largest in the country--would eventually be eclipsed by Manhattan. Brooklyn's few remaining club houses--most of which long ago abandoned their original purpose--are a testimony to the rapid change in Brooklyn's stature. The Lincoln Club building was constructed in 1890. The club itself was founded in 1878 as a social club and to promote Republican causes, but by the time the building was built, it functioned largely as a social club.The building's designer was Mexican-born, Paris-trained Rudolph Daus, who designed a number of prominent buildings in the area. Like other club houses of the time, the Lincoln Club was large and imposing with florid architectural features, including a massive "LC" carved in terra cotta at the top of the building's four stories. In the years of the early twentieth century, many of Brooklyn's wealthiest residents moved to Manhattan and many of the social clubs began to decline. The Lincoln Club disbanded in 1931, and the building became the property of the Independent Order of Mechanics, a Masonic organization. The Lincoln Club building is one of the only remaining social club buildings left in Brooklyn, and one of the most intact of Daus's designs. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Built in 1890, the Lincoln Club was once one of the most elite social clubs in Brooklyn. It was founded by Republicans who named it for the patron saint of their party. The Queen Anne structure was designed by Mexican-born architect Rudolph Daus and is one of the few club houses in the area to retain most of its original features. After the Lincoln Club disbanded in the early 1930s, the building became the property of the Independent Order of Mechanics, a Masonic organization. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Lincoln Club (Mechanics Temple)

James W. Elwell was born in Maine in 1820. His father, John ran an importing business and James W. joined the business at age 18. John opened a branch of the business, named John Elwell &amp; Co., on South St. in Manhattan in 1832. The company expanded into offering shipping services to the East and West Indies, South America, and Europe. After John died in a work accident in 1847, James W. became the company president. James W. and his younger brother, Charles, renamed the firm James W. Elwell &amp; Co. in 1852. The business remained at 57 South St. until it moved around 1889 to 47 South St.James W. married twice; after the death of his first wife, he married Lucy Stinson in 1853 in Maine. The couple had their new home on Lefferts Place constructed in the fashionable Italianate style, with a projecting front bay, a prominent pediment, paired rounded windows on the second story, and a rooftop cupola on the flat roof. The wraparound porch was added in the 1930s. Not many freestanding houses remain in this part of Brooklyn, where blocks of rowhouses were constructed from the 1840s to early twentieth century. The Elwell House is the second oldest house remaining on Lefferts Place; the older house (96 Lefferts Place) was built in 1853 and is not as well preserved as the Elwell mansion.In 1860, the 37-year-old merchant shared his home with 35-year-old Lucy and three children: Olivia (12, the daughter of his late wife), Lucy S. (7), and Jane (2). A son, James Jr., died as a toddler in 1857. Two servants resided with the family: Margaret Farley (20) and Margaret McLoughlin (24). James W. estimated that he owned $20,000 in real estate and $5,000 in personal property. Ten years later, the couple and their three children still lived in the home; the oldest daughter was nicknamed "Effie" and the youngest "Jennie." A servant, Annie Moffat (25) and a man with no occupation listed, Frank Stimeson (23), also lived in the house. Estimated real estate value was $35,000 and personal property $3,000.James W. was interested in flower gardening and had a large conservatory built on his home lot; the property used to extend south to Atlantic Avenue. He had the habit of gathering fresh flowers from his garden or conservatory each morning to pin to the lapel of his coat; fellow riders on the Wall Street Ferry recalled seeing Mr. Elwell's flowers year-round. After wearing the flowers all day, he would give them to a poor woman or child. James W. enjoyed cutting fresh flowers from his garden and delivering the bouquets to local charities, including the Brooklyn Orphans Asylum; this led to his nickname of "Bouquet Elwell."Over his lifetime, James W. was a director or officer of many institutions, including the Niagara Fire Insurance Company and the Marine Bank. James W. was widowed and later died of pneumonia at his home in September 1899 at age 79. He was then the fourth oldest member of the New York Chamber of Commerce. He was heralded as a philanthropist who gave about $3 million to charitable causes. The house then passed to his daughter, Jane, and her husband, George Palmer, who moved to the property with their son, Elwell, and Jane's unmarried sister, Lucy. The family sold the western portion of the lot to a developer in 1902 and the rest of the property in 1939.The Elwell House spent several decades (1939-1981) as the home and place of worship of an African American religious leader, Father Divine, who claimed to be God incarnate. Divine was a complicated historical figure, leading progressive campaigns for racial equality and working for an anti-lynching bill, but his insistence that he was God and numerous run-ins with the law alienated many. The owner of the house by 2006 planned to have the building demolished before a local effort to recognize the house as historic and preserve it was successful. The Elwell House is now a three-family residence containing 15 bedrooms and over 5 bathrooms in nearly 3,000 square feet.

This wood-framed Italianate villa was built circa 1854 and is the former home of prominent shipping merchant, James W. Elwell. The property was later acquired by the African American religious leader known as Father Divine and was one of several properties where Divine and his followers lived communally. The house is now part of the Clinton Hill South Historic District and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Elwell House also is a New York City Landmark as of 2006 and was saved from demolition. The structure now serves as a multi-family private residence.

Fort Greene & Clinton Hill Neighborhoods Historical Walking Tour, Brooklyn

Former Home of Richard Wright

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources