Norwegian Evangelical Free Church, January 5, 1959. The Norwegian Evangelical Free Church was established in 1897, serving a congregation of immigrant laborers and dockworkers from a church at Fourth Avenue and 15th Street. In the opening decades of the 20th century, the congregation shifted to Bay Ridge, prompting the church’s relocation to 66th Street. The cornerstone of the new church was laid in 1928, not far from the eventual route of the Gowanus Expressway. The Bay Ridge church was spared by the highway project, but was replaced with a new, two-sanctuary structure in 1962. At the time, the church still conducted some services in Norwegian, and the second sanctuary was built to facilitate services in both English and Norwegian. Today, the second space is used as a gymnasium.

Rear view of No. 610 Ovington Avenue, from 71st Street; June 10, 1962.

Aftermath of a deadly crane collapse and and landslide during construction on the BMT Fourth Avenue line in Bay Ridge, June 23, 1914. During a routine summer workday, the derrick supporting a crane suddenly gave way. The New York Times reported: “One man was killed and two others were injured, probably mortally, when a thirty ton crane broke through the soil of the subway cut,” adding “the sandy soil in this district had proved very treacherous, and it had been necessary, after the cut was opened, to strengthen the shoring on two different occasions.” The house partially visible at far right (with men on the porch) is No. 7604 Fourth Avenue. That house is still standing, but the two houses at center were demolished between 2007-2011.

This barrel-fronted limestone facade is part of the 400 block of Bay Ridge Parkway, now the Bay Ridge Parkway-Doctor's Row Historic District. Physicians have kept office in many of these buildings since the early 50's, often holding a practice in the ground floor and living on the floor above. The signature consistency in style is due to the fact that the builder used only two architects.

The Bay Ridge Theatre ca. 1939 7120 3rd Avenue Designed by Robert T. Rasmussen, 1915 Bay Ridge once had many theaters, but like most of the others, the Bay Ridge Theatre ceased to function as a theater in the early 1960s. The building, however, has retained much of its ornament, including arched windows, fluted pilasters, and the theater’s name carved below the dentilled cornice.

Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, January 28, 1913. The building at 7420 Fourth Avenue was originally located at the corner of 68th Street and Third Avenue where it served the congregation of the Christ Episcopal Church. That parish moved to a new site and the little church structure was moved a few blocks for a new congregation. Lutheran Church of the Good Shepard had their first services on March 17, 1910 to celebrate Easter.

Public School 170, Bay Ridge, June 10, 1962. The school, built in 1913, was renamed in memory of School District 20 superintendent Ralph A. Fabrizio in 2009.

"The entrance to 77th Street Station in Bay Ridge on the BMT 4th Avenue Line, 1916." This 4th Avenue Line station opened in Bay Ridge in 1916, when the line was extended to 86th Street. The massive original entrance staircase that sits here on the corner of 77th Street and 4th Avenue remains (though the large lighted sign above the top of the stairs has been removed). These types of entrance ways are not common throughout the system. The entrance also includes an artifact of a later era, also not a common sight at subway stations. The lighted MTA logo used at this entrance is the two-color “M” that debuted in 1968 at the start of the state run agency.

If you were young (or old or in-between) and looking for fun in Bay Ridge in the 1940s, here are some of the local spots you might have frequented! 🍹💃🏿🎥

Bay Ridge Theatre, c. 1915. Built in 1915 and designed by Robert T. Rasmussen, the Bay Ridge Theatre was one of a number of movie houses in the neighborhood. Hubert Selby Jr., author of "Last Exit to Brooklyn" and "Requiem for a Dream," grew up across the street from the theatre and set one of his short stories there. The theatre was closed by the 1960s and for some time housed a bingo hall. The current uses of the building include a McDonald's, a Rite Aid, and a New York Sports Club gym. (The reuse of historic buildings, particularly theatres, as gyms is not an uncommon occurrence around the city.)

457 Ovington Avenue, 1959. Built in the early 20th century by a local developer named Arthur Constant for himself and his family, the brick house retains many of its original features. Last on the market in 2015, the house listing noted pocket doors, mantels, stained glass, built-ins, chandeliers and sconces, and a conservatory.

Bay Ridge United Methodist Church ca. 1939 The Bay Ridge United Methodist Church (originally named the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church) was built in 1899. George W. Kramer, its architect, designed the church in the Romanesque Revival style. Built with green serpentine stone, the church had a crenelated clock tower and a sunday school was added in the late 1920s. Though the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, it was demolished in 2008 after the Landmarks committee declined to schedule a hearing on its behalf.

Survey photo for the BMT Fourth Avenue Line at 75th Street, Bay Ridge, October 14, 1912. At far upper left is the tower of the Lutheran church of the Good Shepard, established in 1906.

Brick house, identified as the home of H.C. Denman, M.D.; January 12, 1959. A wedding announcement for Dr. Denman and Amelia Malone ran in the March 21, 1934 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, identifying Denman as a graduate of Long Island College Hospital, President of the Brooklyn Society of Internal Medicine, and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and Surgeons, whose father resided on 58th Street in Sunset Park. For her part, Ms. Malone is named as a graduate of American Academy of Dramatic Art and the daughter of parents residing in Park Slope.