Brooklyn's First Unitarian Congregational Society started meeting in 1833, and its 1844 Church of the Saviour&nbsp;building is among the oldest of its kind in Brooklyn Heights. Its windows were installed by Louis C. Tiffany in the 1890s. On its website, the congregation describes itself &nbsp;as a joyful, loving, religious community that inspires and empowers people to grow spiritually, care for one another, and work for the social justice and stewardship of the earth.&nbsp; Sitting almost directly across the street from Brooklyn Historical Society’s building on Pierrepont Street, the Church of the Saviour was completed in 1844 and is now the oldest church building in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood. The architect of the church,&nbsp;Minard Lafever, was&nbsp;later known for his pattern books on the Greek Revival style. Lafever was one of the hands behind the spread and influence of Gothic Revival architecture in America’s 1840’s-1850’s, particularly in New York and Brooklyn. The design of the Church of the Saviour is proof in itself of Lafever’s fine work in this style. By the early 20th Century, the congregation had grown to a point where they could afford to&nbsp;further beautify the Church of the Saviour with the addition of stained glass windows designed by Tiffany studios with some of them designed by Louis C. Tiffany himself.&nbsp;Within the First Unitarian Congregational Society of Brooklyn records, the lists and ledgers of the owners and renters of these pews include the names of many prominent Brooklynites like Alfred T. White, the Low family, the Pierrepont family, and many others. The collection also contains orders of service and sermons delivered within the church and non-ecumenical work carried on by the congregational outside the walls of the Church of the Saviour.

This photo by Todd Florio shows the Church of the Saviour. 

First Unitarian Church in Brooklyn, interior

Dedicated in 1844, this church is home to Brooklyn's oldest Unitarian society, formed in 1833. The gothic revival-style structure was designed by architect Minard Lafever.

Church of the Saviour - First Unitarian Church Brooklyn

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This short walk through downtown Brooklyn includes iconic landmarks such as the Brooklyn War Memorial, Abolitionist Place, Brooklyn Borough Hall, and several other landmark buildings and historical markers. The tour also stops at the New York Transit Museum and the Brooklyn Historical Society where visitors to the city should plan on spending several hours to experience world-class exhibits. The tour concludes at BRIC which offers free performances and art exhibitions.

The Hamilton Club was originally an exclusive men’s club founded to provide a place for the city’s elite to gather to eat, drink, and discuss political and finical matters. In the 1860’s the club membership had expanded and would no longer be suitable for their meetings. In 1865 the building was sold to African American entrepreneur, Elizabeth Gloucester, and her husband, Reverend James Gloucester.The Gloucesters were able to purchase the five-story building shortly after they sold all of their property in Manhattan. With approximately $150,000, they purchased the Hamilton Club and renamed it Remsen House after the street where it was located. The Gloucesters turned the top floor of their property into the family home where they frequently held meetings and dinners.In 1878 the couple formally opened Remsen House as a boarding house, and the building became Elizabeth’s main occupation and source of income. She held meetings for the Freedman’s Friend Society, Union Soldier Associations, and the Ladies National Union Fair. She hosted family friend, Frederick Douglass, whenever he was in town. Prominent white residents of New York City and Brooklyn like Henry Ward Beecher and his sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, also frequently held or attended meetings at the property. At the time of Elizabeth’s death in 1883, the property had increased in value to about $300,000, which in today’s standards is about $7 million dollars. The property was divided among her husband and five surviving children. After the death of Rev. Gloucester in 1890, the couple’s daughters ran the property for a few more years and then eventually sold it back to the Hamilton Club. The Remsen House was demolished in 1936.

At this location in the mid-19th century, New York's elite would gather at the Hamilton Club. Elizabeth and Reverend James Gloucester, African American real estate investors, purchased the five-story building shortly after they sold all of their property in Manhattan. With approximately $150,000, the couple purchased the Hamilton Club and renamed it Remsen House after the street where it was located. The Gloucesters turned the building into a boarding house with the top floor of their property serving as their family home. The couple held many meetings and dinners at the property and the other floors were rented to commercial enterprises. 

Hamilton Club and Resmen House (1878-1936)

&nbsp; &nbsp; St. Ann &amp; the Holy Trinity was built as the Church of the Holy
Trinity by Brooklyn paper manufacturer Edgar Bartow who wanted a magnificent
edifice for the city of Brooklyn, with pews that were rent-free. He built it
between 1844 and 1848 on the highest point in Brooklyn Heights, which was
sparsely settled at the time. Designed by early American architect, Minard
Lafever, and opened in 1847, it is considered
a masterpiece&nbsp;of the Gothic Revival style in America. Along with the
notable architecture, the church also possesses a collection of stained glass
windows. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Installed in the church's
windows are more than 7,000 square feet&nbsp;of&nbsp;stained glass pieces
designed by William Jay Bolton. These pieces depict the "Jesse Tree"
of Christ's ancestry. This collection is perhaps the most significant (and one
of the earliest)&nbsp;works of early American stained glass.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Before it was removed in 1906 due to
concerns about falling stones, its spire was the most visible landmark in
Brooklyn and was used by ship captains to navigate the harbor.&nbsp; Throughout the richly decorated interior,
vines and botanical ornamentation embellish the arches and vault groins of
the&nbsp;Gothic-style architecture.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Due to
disrepair,&nbsp;the New York Landmarks Conservancy intervened in 1979 to save
the aging church and repair the stained glass. &nbsp;It founded the&nbsp;St.
Ann Center for Restoration and the Arts&nbsp;in 1983. Since then, the work on
the stained glass has&nbsp;included the restoration of the chancel window
and&nbsp;64 stained glass windows by William Bolton located&nbsp;in the nave.&nbsp;&nbsp;Bolton’s organ loft window has since
been moved and&nbsp;is on permanent exhibition in the American wing of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art.

&nbsp;

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

Originally named Church of the Holy Trinity, St. Ann's Church is one of the most prominent and historical Episcopal churches in America. Completed in 1848, this church was designed by American architect Minard Lafever. After closing for more than a decade, in 1969, St. Ann's Church, the oldest Episcopal parish in Brooklyn, moved into the building. 

St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church

The Brooklyn Historical Society was founded in 1863 as the Long Island Historical Society to preserve and commemorate the history of the United States, New York, and particularly, the Long Island community. The society was established during a time of unprecedented growth and development, and many felt that the area's agricultural/rural past would be permanently lost. Administrators of the Long Island Historical Society hoped to preserve that history while engaging the public with dynamic and innovative scholars, writers, and activists. Speakers at the society included Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the famed Sherlock Holmes series, abolitionist Julia Ward Howe, and publisher/political reformer Horace Greeley.The society acquired its first permanent headquarters with the opening of a structure designed by George B. Post and situated at the corner of Pierrepoint and Clinton Streets.&nbsp; Inspired by the design of the Brooklyn Bridge, the
Queen Anne-style building features an innovative truss system that supports the
ceiling of the building’s central reading room and is notable for its bright
terracotta façade, intricate brickwork, and myriad decorative details. It was
the first building in New York City to use locally produced terra cotta. The
building boasts stained glass in-window lunettes, a central laylight, Minton
tile floors, custom-made bronze hardware, and elaborately carved Black ash
woodwork in the library. The façade of the building is adorned with busts of
Christopher Columbus, Benjamin Franklin, William Shakespeare, Johannes
Gutenberg, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Michaelangelo Buonarroti sculpted by Olin
Levi Warner. The facility operated only as a library for much of the twentieth century due to declining membership but was reopened as a museum and educational center in the 1970s and 1980s. The official name of the institution was changed in 1985 to the Brooklyn Historical Society as the center reinvented itself to keep pace with the changing social climate. It established an oral history program geared towards&nbsp;documenting Brooklyn's most overlooked&nbsp;communities and inhabitants. Likewise, the facility began to design exhibits addressed a diverse range of topics, including&nbsp;African American churches in Brooklyn and the AIDS epidemic. The society is still housed in the original building designed by George B. Post and has since&nbsp;completed large-scale renovations of the property in both 1999 and 2014. The building is one of the last remaining works of the
renowned architect George B. Post. It is also the first major edifice on the
East Coast to use locally produced terra cotta. Its facade is an integrated
combination of stylistic elements with Queen Anne and Italian Renaissance
influences. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as
a National Historic Landmark in 1991.

The Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS), founded in 1863, is a museum, library, and educational center, preserving and encouraging the study of Brooklyn' s 400-year past. The Society's headquarters building is a National Historic Landmark designed by George B. Post and constructed in 1878-81 for what was then named the Long Island Historical Society. The headquarters is located in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, an elegant neighborhood that was established after the first steam-powered ferry connected the city to Brooklyn. Its booming growth ended after the Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883 followed by the consolidation of Brooklyn and New York City in 1898. Along with its lovely homes, this upper-middle-class neighborhood also is beautified by 19th Century churches. It was designated the first historic district in 1965. 

Brooklyn Historical Society

During preparations for the final act, a stage manager noticed a small fire burning among some of the&nbsp;extra scenery that had been&nbsp;stored behind the stage. The fire spread while the&nbsp;actors and managers&nbsp;decided whether to continue the performance&nbsp;or risk issuing an announcement about the fire which might&nbsp;cause panic. Before they could make a decision, the curtain raised and the audience noticed the panic and smoke. Shortly after the curtain raised, an&nbsp;unknown person yelled “FIRE!” Bedlam ensued as the fire grew out of control. Within seconds, a thick, dark blue smoke throughout the theater. The panicked crowd rushed the stairs,&nbsp;trampling many underfoot who would later die of&nbsp;smoke inhalation. Thirty minutes after the&nbsp;stagehand spotted the fire, the floor gave way and one end of the building collapsed, killing anyone who had become trapped but might have been rescued by firemen.&nbsp; <h4>The Brooklyn Theatre</h4>
Built in 1871 and located at the corner of Washington and Johnson Streets, the Brooklyn Theatre quickly gained a reputation as Brooklyn’s most revered theater, and playgoers were often delighted to find upscale productions as well as well-known actors and actresses. According to Brooklyn Fire Marshall Patrick Keady, the theater had better exits than most other public buildings at the time. Three sets of doors were designated as special exits, all of which opened onto Flood’s Alley, a small street running alongside the eastern side of the building.&nbsp;
The special exits and large main entryways led Architect Thomas R. Jackson to believe that 1,450 people could evacuate within five minutes. However, there was a significantly overlooked flaw in the theater’s family circle, which, being on the third floor and farthest from the stage,&nbsp;offered the lowest admission price. The family circle, located on the third floor of the theater, could hold 450 people and had its own entrance and box office. It was served by a long, single stairway to street level. Although wider than most gallery passages at the time, it would prove devastating for a panic.&nbsp;
<h4>Timeline of the Fire</h4>
As usual, the Brooklyn Theatre enjoyed a substantial crowd on December 5th, with over 1,000 people in attendance including 400 in the family circle. Between the 4th and 5th Act, around 11:00 pm, the play The Two Orphans had gone without incident, and during the intermission, the curtain was down. Meanwhile, the actors and actresses were getting into position. About 20 minutes later, with preparations for the final act underway backstage, the stage manager J.W. Thorpe spotted a small fire, no bigger than his hand, from the left (prompt) side of the stage. The most prevalent cause was a partially detached canvas that had slipped past the wire guard of a gas light and ignited.&nbsp;
Paint buckets filled with water and the theater’s fire hose weren’t readily accessible, so Thorpe and two carpenters tried extinguishing it with long stage poles. At this point, the curtains rose as people backstage tried controlling the fire. After only a few lines, a few of the on-stage actors and actresses became aware of the fire, but continued with the performance thinking that unusual behavior would incite panic. The audience, meanwhile, grew restive, and the fire spread to the rigging loft, causing flaming bits of debris to float onto the box sets and other places backstage. Smoldering debris then&nbsp;fell onto the stage, smoke was curling toward the ceiling, and the actors fell out of character. The audience, already concerned, rose from their seats and immediately crowded the aisles.&nbsp;
At this point, someone yelled "fire" and caused greater fear to the playgoers, who began panicking. The actors and actresses, as well as ushers and others, tried calming the audience. One actress, Kate Claxton, tried telling the crowd that the fire was part of the play. Another actor, J.B. Studley, essentially told the crowd that if he can be&nbsp;on-stage with the fire behind him, the audience can calmly and reasonably exit. Nevertheless, panic had taken hold and the audience was rushing by all means to escape.&nbsp;
With the exit and specialty doors open, and with the area being the windiest part of Brooklyn and New York, the opened doors only enraged the flames. Fortunately, people sitting in the parquet were able to escape in three minutes; however, since the parquet held the more expensive seats, it was the least crowded. The dress circle patrons were on the second floor and had to contend with two flights of stairs that led to the main door, where the parquet playgoers were exiting. This inevitably caused a halt in the stairwell, with over 150 people jammed in the stairs. Due to the panic, many were unfortunately crushed in this stairwell.
The most devastating aspect of this tragedy occurred with the family circle patrons, where 400 people were tasked with rushing from the third floor to the street level door. The fire had become so intense that smoke was quickly filling up the roof area, making the need to leave much more urgent. Many jumped from the gallery, more were crushed in the panic on the stairwell, and even more suffocated due to smoke inhalation from the thick, blue smoke that had appeared. By 11:45 pm, the eastern side of the building collapsed, and anyone who lived to tell about what happened inside of the theater had already escaped.

On the evening of December 5th, 1876, approximately three hundred people were killed at this location when the new and popular Brooklyn Theatre was consumed by fire. The tragedy remains the third-most deadly fire in American history. Built in 1871 at the present location of the park just west of the court building, the Brooklyn Theatre usually filled all of its 1,200 seats. The theater was home to a number of original productions, such as “The Two Orphans,” which enjoyed a run of sell-out performances throughout the fall and winter of 1876. Nearly a thousand people purchased tickets to see one of the final performances of The Two Orphans on December 5th, 1876-the day the fire produced thousands of orphans. 

Up to 100 victims were burned beyond recognition and buried in a mass grave at nearby Green-Wood. A tall granite monument at Green-Wood Cemetery marks the common grave. 

Brooklyn Theatre Fire of 1876

<h4>History Leading Up to Jackie Robinson’s Integration Into MLB</h4>There are several converging factors leading to the debut and eventual success of professional baseball’s integration. At 215 Montague, a meeting between a manager and player set the stage for the term “national pastime” to finally live up to its name. Robison was the first African American baseball player in the modern era, but not the first to ever play in the major leagues. That distinction goes to many players, such as William Edward White, Moses Fleetwood Walker, and Walker’s brother, Welday Walker. Due to a “gentleman’s agreement" in the 1880s, the various clubs in the National League agreed to exclude non-white players (this bar remained until the Robinson’s first season in 1947). The Walker brothers, among many others, were unceremoniously dropped from major league and minor league rosters. In addition to players such as Edward White who either hid or did not know about their partial African ancestry, dozens of light-skinned players from the Caribbean attempted to pass as "Spanish" during the early 1900s. Labels such as Spanish and Castillian were used to emphasize a Caribbean player's European heritage. These labels also served to downplay the likelihood that any person from the Caribbean and South America likely had at least one person of African descent in their family tree. Of course, none of this background information reduces the historic significance of Robinson's life-he became the first acknowledged person of African descent and the first dark-skinned player in the Major Leagues since the Walker brothers. Given the growth and increased popularity of baseball between the 1880s and 1950s, Robinson's career had a much more significant impact on the history of race relations than any other athlete in American history.  Prior to his baseball career, Jackie Robinson was in the military from 1942 to 1944, where he famously stood up to a white bus driver who had attempted to require Robinson to sit on the back of the bus. Robinson faced a courts-martial for his act, but the military agreed that Robinson had acted within his rights. After his discharge, Robinson served as the athletic director at Sam Huston College in Austin from 1944 to 1945. In 1945, however, he was contacted by the Kansas City Monarchs with an offer for him to play professional baseball in the Negro Leagues for $400 a month. During the 1945 season with the Monarchs, Robinson was also pursuing several major league interests. For example, at Fenway Park the Boston Red Sox were holding tryouts for African American players. Unfortunately, this tryout was a sore farce, a chance to assuage desegregationist sensibilities of Boston political figures. Robinson, among the others trying out, were targets of excessive racial epithets during these tryouts. Some major league managers, however, were more serious about bringing in an African American baseball player. Branch Rickey, the general manager for the Brooklyn Dodgers (and working out of the fourth floor of 215 Montague), was determined to end baseball’s Jim Crow traditions, and, working in secret and away from prying eyes of pro-segregation baseball executives—including Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis—Rickey was able to create several diversions to smokescreen his scouting of African American players.1<h4>The Famous Meeting Between Robinson and Rickey</h4>Although Robinson would go on to face severe racial antagonism, from within the Dodgers and without, the historic meeting memorialized at the current building at 215 Montague would forever change professional baseball. On August 28, 1945, Robinson was called into the fourth-floor offices of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and what ensued was a legendary three-hour exchange between the two. One of the principle reasons why Rickey chose Robinson (as Robinson wasn’t the best player in the Negro leagues) was due to Rickey’s belief that Robinson would be able to withstand the flurry of racial abuse that would come from a landmark signing. Robinson, at the start of the meeting, believed Rickey was signing him to the Negro team he owned, but was undoubtedly surprised when Rickey said that Robinson would start with the Montreal team and then, if Robinson could make it, for the Brooklyn Dodgers.2Robinson soon caught on when Rickey started asking about how he would respond to racial abuse, leading to Robinson’s famous quote, “Do you want a ballplayer who's afraid to fight back?”Rickey then stated, “I want a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back!…You've got to do this job with base hits and stolen bases and fielding ground balls, Jackie. Nothing else!”Rickey would go on to interview Robinson, placing him in the center of many imaginary, heated racial scenarios. One of these scenarios, according to Rickey, involved how Robinson would react to a hot-headed player punching him in the face. Robinson’s legendary response was, “I’ve got two cheeks. That it?” And Rickey agreed to sign Robinson to a contract, and less than two years later, on April 15th, 1947, Robinson would make his major league debut.3Other Accomplishments in BrooklynBranch Rickey also revolutionized baseball in many other ways. Rickey was always creative and innovative when it came to making deals when he was in St. Louis, but was able to expand his creative tendencies here in Brooklyn. He used his innovative ideas to improve the game, practice, and improve the safety of the game. Practice makes perfect, and Rickey felt that practices could be improved. He brought batting cages into the Dodgers facilities which allowed his team to hit more often, and more efficiently. Rickey also brought pitching machines in which allowed coaches and players to throw less and practice to go more smoothly. Finally Rickey improved the safety of the game. Before his implementation of batting helmets, players would only wear their hats when batting. Many players were injured, and when Jackie Robinson was thrown at, he realized something had to change. Branch Rickey completely changed the game, and helped make baseball what it is today.5<h4>Inscription on the Historical Marker</h4>Once upon a time (1890-1957), there was a major league baseball team in Brooklyn—the Dodgers. They played their games at Ebbets Field (1913-1957) in Flatbush, where the fans and players dodged the trolley cars to get to the ballpark. But it was here, on this site, that the team was headquartered from 1938-1957.During these "golden years" in the team's history, the business officers of the Brooklyn Dodgers Baseball Club were here, at 215 Montague Street. And in these offices, on August 28, 1945, Jackie Robinson, a rising star of the Negro Leagues, met with Branch Rickey, Dodger President and General Manager, and signed an agreement to play for the Dodger organization, thus initiating the process of becoming the first African-American player on a major league baseball team—integrating the major league and making baseball truly the pastime of all the nation.

The Brooklyn Dodger's team office was located at 215 Montague Street. As a result, this was the location of the first meeting between Brooklyn Dodger general manager Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson on August 28, 1945. Robinson signed with the Dodgers, becoming the first African American to play Major League Baseball in the modern era. After a season in the Dodger farm system, Robinson made his debut on April 15, 1947, breaking the color barrier that had been in place since the 1880s. As the second baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Robinson also revived the fortunes of long-suffering team. Robinson won the title of Rookie of the Year and the Dodgers won the NL pennant in his first year. Robinson continued to lead the team in several categories through 1954 when he maintained a .311 batting average. The Dodgers won the World Series the following year. Feeling the effects of diabetes and approaching his 38th birthday, Robinson retired after the 1956 season and became an executive for the  Chock full o'Nuts coffee company.
 
Prior to signing with the Dodgers, Robinson played shortstop for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League. After a now famous three-hour meeting with Rickey at this exact location, Rickey agreed to sign a contract for Robinson to play with the Montreal Royals, an International League team within the Dodger organization.In the face of brutal and extensive racial antagonism, Robinson continued to play well, and attendance to games boomed. Six days before the 1947 season, Robinson broke the color barrier and made his major league debut at Ebbets Field.  

The Meeting: Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson Historic Marker

Brooklyn is the largest of NYC's five boroughs, and is&nbsp;home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If it were still an independent city, it would be the 4th largest in the United States.&nbsp;

Built between 1846 and 1851, this building served as city hall for the formerly independent city of Brooklyn until 1898. In that year, the cities of Brooklyn and New York City agreed to a merger and this building later became known as "Brooklyn Borough Hall." Three years prior to that merger, the building was damaged when a fire in a waste receptacle spread throughout the upper floors. The fire damaged the chamber room (a court room today) and destroyed the building's original cupola. Today, the building hosts regular exhibitions of art and history in the rotunda-a beautiful two-story public space that has been completely restored. Visitors to the building should be sure to see the courtroom which was designed in 1903 and features carved wood paneling and a domed ceiling. 

Brooklyn Borough Hall

&nbsp; Segregation in schools had been
outlawed in New York City in 1920 and the Brown v. Board of Education decision
made school segregation illegal on a national level. Despite this, New York
City schools were still segregated in 1964 and provided unequal learning
environments. Several states delayed the desegregation of their schools and
many were able to keep segregated schools due to surrounding segregated
communities.&nbsp;This was the case in New York City; segregation was not
practiced by law, but it was still a reality in communities that had been
traditionally Black and white.&nbsp;The kids that lived in these neighborhoods
would then attend the schools closest to where they lived, leading to
segregated schools across the city.&nbsp;The city had promised the schools an
integration plan for several years and the Board of Education released a plan
to draw out new districts just a few days before the boycott, but activists
said it was not enough. 
&nbsp; In the early 1960s the boycott was proposed
by Presbyterian minister Milton Galamison who had previously served as the
president of Brooklyn's NAACP branch.&nbsp;He created a civil rights
organization called the Parents' Workshop for Equality in New York City Schools
that consisted of parents, teachers, and the city's civil rights advocates. The
group attempted to convince the Board of Education to create a plan for the integration
of the city’s African American and Puerto Rican schools.&nbsp;The organization
was unable to do so and by 1964 they requested that Bayard Rustin plan the
boycott; Rustin helped plan the 1963 March on Washington and the Freedom Ride of
1947. Along with the city's civil rights organizations and pastors, Rustin
planned the boycott for February 3 and provided freedom schools for students to
attend if they planned to partake in the boycott. &nbsp;These civil rights
organizations included the City-Wide Committee for Integrated Schools, CORE,
NAACP, Parents' Workshop for Equality, and the Harlem Parents Committee. 
&nbsp; On February 3 the boycott began when
464,000 students refused to attend school and several protesters marched to the
city's schools and to the Board of Education.&nbsp;At the Freedom Schools,
students were taught about slavery, what it meant to be free, and sang songs
like the popular "We Shall Overcome."&nbsp;While there was a fear of
violence, the boycott remained peaceful, and received more support than people
thought it would.&nbsp; However, it did not succeed in integrating the city’s
African American and Puerto Rican schools and communities.&nbsp;Even today
several schools in the city are still segregated due to the Board of
Education's failure to fully address the issue. &nbsp;

On February 3, 1964 the New York City School boycott became one of the biggest civil rights protests in history when protesters marched for school integration in the city. On this single day event around 464,000 children skipped school, and several parents, teachers, students, and advocates walked to 300 of 860 schools in the area. The marchers ended the boycott at the Board of Education in Brooklyn but to no avail. While the boycott rallied several protesters, the Board of Education did nothing to change the ongoing segregation in the school system.

New York City School Boycott 1964

When New York's subway opened in 1904, seven years after Boston became the first American city to operate a system of underground trains. New York's first line,&nbsp;the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) connected Grand Central with lower Manhattan. Today, New York operates the largest subway system in the United States, transporting an average of over four million passengers daily.&nbsp;&nbsp;

An increasingly popular destination with tourists and residents, the New York Transit Museum is the largest of its kind in the United States. Exhibits preserve and share the history of New York's fabled underground transportation network as well as the larger history of urban public transportation that includes trolleys and jitney cars as well as buses and ferries. In addition to operating this museum and a small archive, the NY Transit Museum creates exhibits within an annex gallery within Grand Central Terminal. 

New York Transit Museum

Charles F. Bunting is thought to be the designer of the 1857 Friends Meeting House. The interior of the worship room is very plain, with simple wooden benches, in keeping with Quaker values of avoiding ostentation (see the video linked below).There were two branches of Quakerism that worshiped in Brooklyn in the nineteenth century. The Orthodox Quakers constructed their meeting house on the corner of Washington and Lafayette Avenues. The Hicksite Quakers were authorized under the state's Hicksite Meeting; they are the group who built the Meeting House on Schermerhorn St. Elias Hicks founded the Hicksite branch of the Society of Friends. His direct descendant, Samuel Hicks Seaman, worshipped at the Schermerhorn Street Meeting House while living in Brooklyn from 1881 until his death in 1901 at age 63; Seaman was the retired president of the Cromwell Steamship Company. In the early years of the Brooklyn Hicksite Friends, men sat on one side of the Meeting House during worship services while women sat on the other side. That changed on the morning of December 7, 1873, when both sexes sat together during the service.A Quaker school was held in the basement of the Schermerhorn Street Meeting House. Brooklyn Friends School was founded in 1867 as a grade school for boys and girls and began with 17 pupils. While the school was run by the Quakers, enrollment was also open to non-Quakers. Miss Susan B. Peckham was the principal from the 1880s to 1902. A school building was added next to the Meeting House at 112 Schermerhorn St. in 1902 to ease overcrowding; W. B. Tubby was the architect. Instruction for Kindergarteners was added in 1902 and for high schoolers in 1907. In the early 1970s, Brooklyn Friends School moved several blocks north to 375 Pearl Street, where it still operates as the school's main building. Brooklyn Friends School is a private school known for progressive teachings and emphasis on social justice; their 900 or so students use the Meeting House for some school gatherings. The school cut its ties to the New York Quarterly Meeting of the Society of Friends in 2010. The 1902 school building now houses Brooklyn Frontiers High School, an alternative school.In Quaker gatherings for worship, members sit in silence, quiet their mind, and may speak if they feel they have received a message through God. Quaker values include respecting others and celebrating each individual's inner light. With the coronovirus pandemic, the Brooklyn Meetings went virtual via Zoom in 2020. Participants are automatically muted and sit in front of their computer screen for about an hour.

The low brick building on the corner of Schermerhorn Street and Boerum Place is the Friends Meeting House which was built by the Quakers in 1857. The Quakers also established a school in their basement in 1867 and in 1902, they constructed the school at 112 Schermerhon to ease overcrowding. The Brooklyn Friends School moved to another location in the 1970s and an alternative high school now occupies the former school building. The Meeting House is still a place of worship by the Society of Friends (Quakers). The Friends Meeting House and School were designated a New York City Landmark in 1981 and were listed in the New York and National Registers in 1982.

Friends Meeting House and School

Because of its location, the Brooklyn Tabernacle is able to minister to the cross-cultural melting pot of New York City. The church itself includes members from all walks of life, with diverse ethnic and national origins. Central to the growth and outreach of the Brooklyn Tabernacle has been a strong emphasis on prayer, through the Tuesday Night Prayer Meeting and the Prayer Band, which is devoted to interceding for needs from around the world. The church is known for its 280-voice choir, which for the most part is composed of vocally untrained church members. The choir has recorded three videos, three DVDs, and numerous albums, winning five Dove Awards and six Grammy Awards. Its concert venues in New York City have included Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and the Madison Square Garden Theater. The recognition received by the choir has provided the church with an opportunity to present the gospel's message through music to people all over the world. Pastor Jim Cymbala is a native New Yorker, raised in the borough of Brooklyn. His early love of basketball earned him a scholarship to the University of Rhode Island, where he became captain of the basketball team. After graduation, he immediately entered the business world and, soon after, he married his childhood sweetheart, Carol Joy Hutchins. Pastor Cymbala and Carol began their lives together, and before long, though he did not have formal theological training, Pastor Cymbala felt a call to the ministry. Brooklyn Tabernacle is active in a range of mission projects and offers a multitude of ministries.

The Brooklyn Tabernacle is a multicultural, non-denominational church in the heart of downtown Brooklyn. The church began with a handful of members in a small, rundown building in a difficult area of the city, and today, it is a congregation of about 10,000 people who attend the weekly services. Pastor Jim Cymbala and his wife Carol, who directs the Grammy Award winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, have been able to preach the gospel in the inner city and to see new churches grow out of the congregation in response to needs in other parts of the city and elsewhere in the country, as well as internationally.

The Brooklyn Tabernacle Church

Charles M. Gage opened a restaurant in Brooklyn in 1879 at 302 Fulton Street, specializing in oysters. One of his regular customers was Eugene Tollner, a cigar salesman. Gage brought Tollner in as a partner in 1884, renaming the restaurant Gage &amp; Tollner. The restaurant moved to 372-374 Fulton Street in 1892. The partners claimed their restaurant was the first in Brooklyn to be lit by the newfangled incandescent electric bulbs; the chandeliers were backed up by gaslighting, the tried-and-true lighting of the era.The partners retired in 1911 and sold the restaurant to xx Cunningham and xx Ingalls. Ingalls died a few weeks later, and Tollner returned to his favorite hangout and worked for another 24 years, for the rest of his life. Tollner died on his way to work on the day before his 86th birthday. Gage helped out, too, until he died in 1919. Also in 1919, Cunningham and Ingalls sold the business to Seth Bradford "Brad" Dewey. After the deaths of Brad in 1938 and his wife, their son, Ed Dewey took over the restaurant in 1949. Ed was an engineer, a World War II Navy veteran, and husband to Gertrude "Trudy." Trudy was very involved in the running of the kitchen and in keeping the company books. Ed's little brother, Tom, worked as a manager in the 1950s and 1960s.A man named Leon Gaskill began working at Gage and Tollner in 1904. The headwaiter continued to work at the restaurant until 1966, making him the longest-running employee in the history of Gage and Tollner. The restaurant was still known for its seafood and was called one of the best seafood restaurants in the world in 1952 in the first annual Restaurant Awards by Holiday Magazine; no other Brooklyn restaurant made the list. Gage and Tollner received the award many more times.Ed Dewey took on a business partner in 1973, John B. Simmons. Ed. Trudy, and John converted the second floor into two private dining rooms in 1977. Peter Aschkenasy bought the restaurant in 1988 and hired the renowned Southern chef Edna Lewis, who was 72 years old at the time. For the first time in a century, the menu included down home cooking like Charleston she-crab soup and spoon bread. The restaurant was restored to its Late Victorian original elegance by the man who bought the business in 1995, Joe Chirico, a restauranteur from southern Italy. The building's mahogany tables, cherrywood trims, brass gaslight fixtures, and mirrored/faux leather wallcoverings in the long, narrow dining room cost $500,000 to restore. Clam bellies, the tender middle of the clam, breaded and broiled were served with toast and were unique to Gage and Tollner. The last meal Chirico served at Gage and Tollner was on February 14, 2004. A developer named Joseph Jemel bought the structure and converted the upper two floors to office space. A number of fast-food restaurants and discount stores occupied the building for years.The latest phase of the restaurant includes its rebirth as Gage and Tollner in 2021 after several years of planning and renovation, with pandemic-related delays thrown in. The new restauranteurs are Ben Schneider, St. John Frizell, and chef Sohui Kim.

The four-story brownstone building at 372 Fulton Street has been standing since about 1875. Gage and Tollner's Restaurant began in 1879 and moved to the Fulton Street building in 1892. The wooden storefront was probably added in 1892. The restaurant went through a number of owners before closing in 2004. TGI Fridays then moved into the space and left in 2007, followed by an Arby's in 2010 and a jewelry and coat store by 2012. The interior was designated a New York City Landmark in 1975, to recognize its Late Victorian appearance; the building was listed in the National Register in 1982. Recently, Gage and Tollner reopened as an oyster and chop house under new ownership in its old location after renovations.

Gage and Tollner Building

The first fire company in Brooklyn was chartered in 1772 to serve the roughly 300 residents in the Village of Brooklyn. Six firemen were appointed to serve for one year with no salary; two were named William Boerum and John Middagh. The Village bought its first fire engine in 1785 from New York City; it was essentially a wooden box holding a 180-gallon water tank that the firemen would pull by a rope. There was no hose, but a nozzle could shoot up to 60 feet. The wagon held 24 leather buckets so that bystanders could pitch in to help put out the fire. The fire company purchased a new fire engine in 1793. Engine Company No. 2 was formed in 1797 in Brooklyn Heights. By 1818, the force of 30 built a firehouse and bought a truck. The Fire Department's first annual parade took place on July 4, 1826. A paid firefighting force was established in Brooklyn in 1869.The architect of the Old Brooklyn Fire Headquarters building was Frank Freeman. The building was made of granite with red sandstone trim and dark brown Roman brick facing with terra cotta details. The red tile roof was trimmed in copper. The large archway at street level allowed for the entrance and exit of fire engines. The tall tower served as a watchpoint for spotting fires. Freeman also designed the Hotel Margaret, the Herman Behr Mansion in Brooklyn Heights, and the Eagle Warehouse in DUMBO.Once Brooklyn became a borough in the City of New York on January 1, 1898, the former Brooklyn Fire Department Headquarters became part of the consolidated fire department for all five boroughs, the Fire Department of the City of New York. Brooklyn's loss was Long Island's gain: in March 1898 a hose cart and hose from the former Brooklyn Fire Headquarters found its way to the Fire Department in Bay Shore, Long Island; it was the Enterprise Hook and Ladder Company's first hose cart. The Rescue 2 Unit was housed in the Old Brooklyn Fire Headquarters from 1929 to 1946; these are the folks who are called in to rescue the rescuers. In the 1970s, the days of firefighting from this building came to an end. The structure was leased for classroom space to Brooklyn Polytechnic University for a few years and then was vacant.When the MetroTech Center, a 16-acre industrial and academic park, was being developed in the 1980s, many lower-income residents were displaced. The developers, in consultation with the Landmarks Preservation Commission, worked to ensure that the nearby Old Brooklyn Fire Headquarters building would not be damaged. The city converted the building into affordable housing in the late 1980s. Two decades later, the apartments and the roof were in bad shape and the building underwent almost $6 million in renovations from 2013 to 2014. The building was essentially gutted and the 18 housing units were rebuilt. The windows were replaced to get the building into compliance with local codes, but the exterior was kept as close to the original look as possible. Street-level community space was added in the renovation project for affordable leasing to a community organization.

When the Romanesque style building at 365-367 Jay Street was completed in 1892, Brooklyn was an independent city, and the building was the city's new Fire Department Headquarters. Six years later in 1898, Brooklyn became a borough in New York City and the fire department's headquarters was in Manhattan. This building then became a neighborhood fire station and continued as this until the 1970s. The Old Brooklyn Fire Headquarters was one of the first buildings added as a New York City Landmark in 1966, soon after the Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) came to be. The LPC deemed it one of the finest buildings, architecturally, in Brooklyn, with an unusual variety of harmoniously blended colors in costly and attractive materials. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It was converted into affordable housing in the 1980s and was renovated in 2013 to 2014 while preserving the historic exterior.

Old Brooklyn Fire Headquarters (apartments)

Located on the Fulton Street Mall, the Offerman Building was the work
of Henry Offerman, who was president of the Brooklyn Sugar Refining Company. Offerman
made a fortune in the sugar industry, but eventually branched out into real
estate.&nbsp;

Danish-born architect Peter Lauritzen was commissioned to design the
building. Lauritzen was, like Offerman, a resident of Brooklyn and designed numerous
buildings in the borough, including the Union League Club building in Crown
Heights and several firehouses. The building was constructed in two phases,
from 1890 to 1893. It is a striking building constructed in the Romanesque
Revival style and features a rotunda and ornate terra cotta ornamentation on
the façade. At the time of its construction, the building was one of the
tallest in Brooklyn.&nbsp;

Numerous retail outlets have occupied the building over the years, but
the most well-known tenant was Martin’s Department Store, which operated in the
building for more than 50 years before closing in 1979. Martin’s was a high-end
department store which specialized in bridal wear.&nbsp;

Recently, the Offerman Building has been transformed into the Offerman
House. The ground floor houses several well-known retailers, including Nordstrom
Rack and Old Navy, but the top five floors have been converted into apartments.
The building was named a New York City Landmark in 2005 and was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

Brooklyn’s Offerman Building was built for Henry Offerman, a wealthy sugar magnate, who envisioned a department store in the building. It was constructed in two phases from 1890 to 1893. The building was designed by Danish-American architect Peter Lauritzen, who lived near Offerman and was also active in community life in Brooklyn. The Offerman Building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, currently houses both retail and residential spaces.



Offerman Building (Offerman House)

227 Duffield Street was once home to abolitionists Thomas Truesdell and Harriet-Lee Truesdell who were leaders of the anti-slavery movement in New England before moving to New York. The Trusedells worked with William Lloyd Garrison, one of the most influential abolitionists in American history and the publisher of The Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper. Harriet-Lee Truesdell worked as an officer in a woman's antislavery society during a time when women's anti-slavery societies engaged in substantial fundraising and advocacy work. Although disenfranchised, 19th-century women demonstrated considerable political influence through women's organizations, and the anti-slavery movement was largely shaped by their work. The Truesdells often used their home for anti-slavery meetings and it is possible that they also directly assisted enslaved persons as they escaped from the South to Canada via the Underground Railroad. Owing to the Fugitive Slave Act that made assisting enslaved persons a federal crime, this network of supporters and safe houses were clandestine which makes it difficult to determine the precise location and scale of many locations of the Underground Railroad. Former tenants of the home have reported findings of old stoves and iron cauldrons there, leading the current tenants to believe that the sub-basements of these houses served as feeding stations for escaped slaves passing through Brooklyn. While evidence connecting the home directly to the Underground Railroad has not yet been discovered, it is known that there were several anti-slavery families in this neighborhood. The area around Duffield Street is also rich in history. Polytechnic University's student center is located two blocks from Duffield Street. In 1860, the center was the Bridge Street African Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal Church, Brooklyn's first African American church, as well as the center of abolitionist meetings and activity. Ten minutes from Duffield Street is Plymouth Church, which was attended by Abraham Lincoln, Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglass. Like several other New York Black churches, Plymouth Church is deeply connected to the Underground Railroad because Black institutions formed the core of the abolitionist movement. Surrounded by luxury condos and hotels, the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and Department of City Planning announced in 2004 that they wanted to tear down the homes on Duffield Street as part of an economic development plan for downtown Brooklyn. Replacing many of the buildings on the street with new hotels, underground parking, and a park. The owners of these homes and local supporters fought against the city. Pressuring the Bloomberg Administration to honor the efforts of abolitionists in the nineteenth century.  Thanks to the work of historians, this home's connection to the anti-slavery movement is known even if some disagree on whether there is enough evidence to believe that this home ever served as a place to shelter those fleeing slavery via the Underground Railroad. Equally important, this connection led preservationists and city officials to broker a compromise to allow new development in the area without affecting the extant historic homes on Duffield. Once facing demolition, the building will likely be preserved but the effort to turn the home into a small museum and cultural center will require substantial resources.

Home to Harriet and Thomas Truesdell when the couple moved here in 1851, this modest brick building on Brooklyn's Duffield Street was saved from demolition by preservationists and historians owing to its connection to New York's abolitionist movement. The Truesdell's were anti-slavery activists in Rhode Island and close associates of William Lloyd Garrison. In 2020, the New York Landmarks Commission decided to consider this building, known now as "Abolitionist Place" as an official New York landmark. The building is located on a street that included seven buildings that are associated with the anti-slavery movement and were home to supporters of those who resisted the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and actively supported the Underground Railroad. The building was officially named Abolitionist Place in September of 2007. 

The Harriet and Thomas Truesdell House (Abolitionist Place)

Between the 1830s and 1860s, Brooklyn became not only the largest settlement of Kings County&nbsp;but the third largest city in the country. By 1860, more than ninety-five percent of the County’s population lived in Brooklyn, after it merged with Williamsburg and Bushwick. New York, on the opposite side of the river, was a bustling trading port, and both cities were home to a steadily more affluent population. Where these two cities met, the demand for banks rose because of this increased population.

It was here that the Dime Savings Bank built their home office in 1906, on a plot of land which was previously occupied by the Fleet Street Methodist church and school, an oil cloth factory, and the Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church. Established in 1859, the premise of the Dime Savings Bank was that customers could open up a savings account with only a dime. Before the building was built, they based their operations in the Post Office Building at 211 Montague Street, but as the business grew, they relocated to a number of locations before settling on the corner of Albee Square. Between 1910 and the 1930s, the bank grew rapidly, and by 1932, the deposits they held had almost tripled to $170 million dollars. At this point, they began opening further branches around the city, and the extension to the headquarters was made.

After the First World War, New York became the world’s foremost financial center. Banking in New York during the early and mid-twentieth century was no easy matter. However, in the 1970s, higher interest rates and growing restrictions placed on loans offered by mutual savings banks meant that many banks and customers were very limited in what they could do. By 1978, the Dime Savings Bank had eleven branches around the city, some of which were forced to merge due to the stagnant financial climate. In response to the heavy regulation in 1983, the Dime Savings Bank came under a federal charter, and three years later, it became a publically owned stock savings bank.

By 2002, the bank closed, and in 2015, two developers, Michael Stern and Joe Chetrit, purchased the old Dime Savings Bank building for $90 million. They have plans to build a one thousand foot high residential tower at their adjacent property on 340 Flatbush Avenue. The bank itself will be refurbished and incorporated into the tower but will likely keep many of its historic features due to its landmark status.

The Dime Savings Bank of New York was a state-chartered savings bank dating back to 1859, which became New York’s second largest bank during the 1980s and one of the country’s largest bank buildings. The Beaux Arts building that served as its headquarters, based loosely on the Parthenon in Rime, was built in 1906 by architects Mowbray & Uffinger. The misshapen, triangular building was given a rectangular extension on the back in 1918. In 1931, the bank was enlarged by architects Halsey, McCormack & Helmer, who were well-known at the time for designing bank buildings. The classical elements of the building’s pentelic marble architecture were emphasized, with stately Ionic colonnades and a domed roof.  The entrance through a chamfered corner crowned with a bracketed cornice and clock led to a large rotunda ringed with red marble columnns. A circular, forty-foot diameter round skylight, made of copper and stained glass, adorned the ceiling. The basement still contains many of these original features, in addition to basement bank vaults and a firing range used by the bank’s past guards.

Dime Savings Bank of New York

BRIC House features spaces for performing arts, an artist studio, a 3,000 square-foot gallery, public access TV center, cultural gathering space featuring drop-in programming for all ages, a cafe and classrooms - all under one roof. It is also the home of UrbanGlass. BRIC presents contemporary art, performing arts and community media programs that showcase Brooklyn’s creativity and diversity.&nbsp;BRIC also provides the necessary resources to help artists and media makers. It strives to advance access to and understanding of arts and media by presenting free and low-cost programming, and by offering education and other public programs to people of all ages.Some of BRIC’s most noted programs include the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival in Prospect Park, several public access media initiatives, including the newly-renamed BRIC TV, and a renowned contemporary art exhibition series. BRIC also offers education and other programs. In addition to making cultural programming accessible to everyone, BRIC provides substantial support to artists and media makers in their efforts to develop work and reach new audiences.

BRIC has been providing a creative home for the arts and artists in Brooklyn since 1979. BRIC House serves as a home for artists and audiences. BRIC House brings BRIC's contemporary art, performing arts and community media programs under one roof for the first time. The project repurposed the former Strand Theater building in the heart of the Brooklyn Cultural District.

BRIC Media House

BRIC programs reach hundreds of thousands of people each year. The main venue, BRIC Arts/ Media House, offers a public media center, a major contemporary art exhibition space, two performance spaces, a glass-walled TV studio, and artist work spaces. BRIC also provides resources to launch, nurture, and showcase artists and media makers. It aims to advance access to and understanding of the&nbsp;arts and media by presenting free and low-cost programming, and by offering education and other public programs to people of all ages. BRIC is the leading presenter of free cultural programming in Brooklyn, and one of the largest in New York City. BRIC presents and incubates work by artists and media-makers who reflect the diversity that surrounds us.

BRIC presents contemporary art, performing arts, and community media programs that reflect Brooklyn’s creativity and diversity. BRIC's visual arts program focuses on the Rotunda Gallery, that has supported the work of Brooklyn artists since 1981  through five annual group exhibitions. The gallery also provides arts education programming for thousands of New York City public school students. Its online image registry contains the work of these artists and is accessible to curators, dealers, gallery owners, and other visual arts professionals throughout the world.






Downtown Brooklyn Walking Tour

Church of the Saviour - First Unitarian Church Brooklyn

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources