Brooklyn College, 1937. Established in 1930—with origins in earlier educational institutions—Brooklyn College was the first public coeducational liberal arts college in New York City. The college's current campus was planned by architect Randolph Evans to include a central quadrangle anchored by a library building with a tall tower, surrounded by Georgian style structures. While students attended classes in Downtown Brooklyn, ground was broken in Midwood on October 2,1935. Both of the buildings were completed within two years. While a downtown campus remained in service until 1975 (closed during the financial crisis of that decade), the south Brooklyn campus became the main facility. It was envisioned by its founders as an instrument of advancement for the city's working class and the children of its immigrant communities. The school became a member of the City University of New York system in 1961. Famous alumni include politicians Bernie Sanders, Shirley Chisholm, and Barbara Boxer, actor Jimmy Smits, and writer Frank McCourt.

Van Nuyse-Magaw House ARCHITECT: Unknown DATE: c. 1800 STYLE: Dutch Colonial This unpretentious frame house is an excellent example of a Dutch Colonial farmhouse of the early 1800’s with some Twentieth Century modifications. This rectangular two and one-half story sturdy, shingle-covered dwelling has great architectural character. Johannes Van Nuyse (1736-1826) erected this Van Nuyse homestead at the west end of his father’s eighty-five acre farm. George C. Case purchased the house in 1916 and moved it to its present site, removing the kitchen wing and adding new dormer windows at about the same time.

Joost Van Nuyse’s son, Johannes, built this house between 1800 and 1803 at what became 1447 Ocean Avenue. It passed to his son, Jeromus, who died childless. His estate sold the house to Robert Magaw, whose namesake ancestor, the Revolutionary War figure Colonel Robert Magaw, surrendered Fort Tryon to the British. The Magaws held the property until the early 20th century when the surrounding farmland was subdivided for development. In 1919 the old house — minus its kitchen wing — was moved to 1041 East 22nd Street, a few blocks east of its original location, and turned sideways to fit its new, narrow lot. Its distinctive gable end is, therefore, the street facade. It became a landmark in 1969 and remains a private residence.

"Despite having the nation’s third largest population, after Manhattan and Chicago, Brooklyn did not have a public university of its own. By 1917, City College (CCNY) — the well-regarded Manhattan-based public university — began offering an evening program in Brooklyn to serve more of the city’s residents on their home turfs, the first of a number of planned centers throughout the boroughs. While students — nearly a third of whom lived in Brooklyn — welcomed the chance to reduce long commutes, residents and leaders had very little involvement in the project... Brooklyn’s politicians felt this resentment even more than Chamber of Commerce leaders. For them, a mere branch of CCNY, without any oversight by Brooklyn officials or a faculty independent of City College, was not enough…Reflecting outsized political ambitions, and based on hyperbolic estimates of Brooklyn’s current 1925 population, Joseph A. Guider, the Borough President, argued that “what Brooklyn wanted was a university of her own that would take rank with any in the country.” Noting that “many men and women from Brooklyn have attained eminence and distinction in their various professional callings,” Guider believed that Brooklyn’s residents together demonstrated the area’s intellectual prowess and potential." For more on the establishment of Brooklyn College, check out this article by Rachel A. Burstein in Gotham: A Blog for Scholars of New York City History.

One of the largest New Deal funded projects in Flatbush was the construction of a permanent campus for Brooklyn College on a forty-acre field. The College, then housed in several buildings in downtown Brooklyn, received 5 million from the federal government to build the new campus.