Brooklyn Heights part III
Have you ever doubt about the truth of things? Such as the truth of history, the truth of “facts”, even the truth of “truth”? I am not sure if the information I obtained from the website is true or not, I really don’t know!
Now, let’s continue the history of Brooklyn Heights…
In 1814, Hezekiah Beers Pierrepont who was one of the Brooklyn Heights’ major landowners, he backed Robert Fulton’s New York and Brooklyn Steam Ferry Boat Company, then Brooklyn Heights began to develop. Pierrepont owned 60 acres of land (part of the Livingston estate) what included the Benson, De Bevoise and Reemsen farms, and together they were then called the “Clover Hills.” Nowadays, it’s Brooklyn Heights. Pierrepont built a mansion on the land. He also developed Phillip Livingston’s gin distillery where he produced Anchor Gin. Now, this place is Joralemon street.
Besides Pierrepont, Jacob Hicks also owned lands in Brooklyn Heights. Under the influence of them and other landowners, in 1816, Brooklyn got a charter from the state as a village.
In 1807, there were only 7 houses. There were more than 600 houses by 1860. It almost fully developed by 1890. The buildings were well designed. And the styles of architecture changed over time. In 19th century, Brooklyn Heights became Brooklyn’s financial and cultural center. Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens then appeared as Brooklyn Heights developed.
Henry Ward Beecher who was a pastor of Plymouth Church played an important role in the Abolitionist movement of Brooklyn Heights before the Civil War.
In 1908, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)’s Lexington Avenue subway line reached Brooklyn Heights what resulted merchants and patricians living there, whose mansions were divided to become boarding houses and apartment houses. Writers and artists started to move into the neighborhood, as well as many large hotels such as the St. George, the Margaret, the Bossert, Leverich Towers, the Pierrepont, and others. But boarding houses became rooming houses after many middle class left the area by the starting of the Great Depression.
In 1940s and 1950s, the Brooklyn- Queens Expressway building destroyed whole rows of brownstone houses at the northwest corner. Robert Moses known as New York’s “master builder” who was wielding the Housing Act of 1949 wanted to replace the brownstone row-houses with some large luxury apartment buildings. A prominent example was the Cadman Plaza. The North Heights Community Group was formed to oppose to destroy cheap low-rise housing. Despite architect, Percival Goodman and his 25000 supporters planned to maintain all sound structures, and the North Heights Community Group’s strong opposition, two 22 stories towers with more than 1200 luxury and middle income units were called by City Hall with support of the Brooklyn Heights Association in early 1961. This caused 1200 residents were removed from their houses and apartments in late 1961 and early 1962.
The Brooklyn Heights Association which was founded in 1910 joined Robert Moses to build the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. It’s cantilevered over the Brooklyn- Queens Expressway. It offers magnificent views of the Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, and the fireworks displayed over the East River.
Some new properties owners moved into Brooklyn Heights to buy and renovate the pre-Civil War period houses what was known as the “Brownstone Revival” by the mid-1950s. It was part of the preservation movement. In 1966, the Brooklyn Heights Association had the neighborhood designated the Brooklyn Heights Historic District which was the first such district in New York City. In the following decades, Brooklyn Hights was gentrified into a firmly middle class area, and it became one of the most attractive neighborhoods in NYC.
More about Brooklyn Heights’ architectures and churches will be written in next article…
