New Utrecht Avenue, east side, looking north, between 53rd Street and 52nd Street, March 25, 1914. The neighborhood here surrounding the Brooklyn, Bath and West End Railroad (an electric trolley line by 1900), began to develop in earnest in 1905. That year a real estate developer purchased a plot of farm land just to the south of this streetscene. Over the next six years the company constructed streets, avenues, sidewalks, as well as, installed water, gas, and sewage infrastructure. They partitioned the land into individual lots for sale to builders, and more than 500 structures were constructed by 1911. The structure under construction is at the northwest corner of 52nd Street. It was the West End Theatre, which originally showed silent films. In 1921, the Boro Park Theatre was constructed directly behind this theatre at the corner of 12th Avenue and 51st Street for the B.F. Keith Circuit. Both theatres were purchased 1923 by Loew's and plans were made for the West End to show movies while its neighbor produced vaudeville. Within a couple of years the West End had closed. It became a bowling alley in 1942 for some unknown length of time. In recent years it has functioned as a banquet hall and today it is a Talmudic college that serves the large Orthodox Jewish community of Borough Park.

1147 49th Street, 1958.

New Utrecht Avenue looking north, showing west sidewalk, between Fort Hamilton Parkway (at corner) and 45th Street (behind the camera), March 25, 1914. In 1914 the small triangle block formed by 45th Street, Fort Hamilton Parkway and New Utrecht Avenue was occupied by a small structure, the corner of which is visible at the left side of the frame. In 1914 the "public area" at this intersection had its title transferred to the city, along with similar such plots along the planned route of the new elevated BMT West End Line. Today this triangle includes only a small plot of greenery and one of the staircases from the Fort Hamilton Parkway Station of the D train.

West side of the intersection of 43rd Street and New Utrecht Avenue, looking north, December 15, 1913. The homes seen in the distance at right are a part of the real estate development of Borough Park that occurred from the 1890s through the early decades of the 20th century. Just before the turn of the century real estate developer William Reynolds moved on from rowhouse development in Prospect Heights, to purchasing farmland south of the park. From the large parcel of land he bought, Reynolds created 4,000 lots, sold some off to investors, and built homes on others. Unlike the attached rowhouses of his early ventures, Borough Park developed, from the ground up, into a neighborhood of mostly large single family homes.

Looking north at the intersection of 50th Street, New Utrecht Avenue, and 12th Avenue, March 25, 1914.

Borough Park Club House, ca. 1912. The neighborhood now known as Borough Park, was once called, for a short period of time in the 19th century, Blythebourne. It was the creation of a developer named Electus B. Litchfield. He had established a small cottage community in 1887 from the sprawling farmland that dominated this part of Brooklyn. A different developer, William H. Reynolds, arrived on the scene in the 1880s and bought, schemed, and constructed a new, larger community around Blythebourne, calling it Borough Park. The community had a suburban feel, with small wood-frame homes as well as large Queen Anne and Colonial Revival detached houses. The Borough Park Club House was conceived by Reynolds and designed by Benjamin Dreisler 1898. The Queen Anne/Colonial Revival building with a large wraparound porch was the center of activity for the neighborhood. It hosted events organized by fraternal organizations, church and synagogue, scouts, teachers, sports clubs, social clubs, union organizations, and political clubs. The clubhouse survived in its original form until World War II, after which it was converted in to a Jewish Center and then school, serving the booming Orthodox Jewish community that had moved into the neighborhood mid century. During these years the large porch was removed, two-story wings were added to the building, and the surrounding grass was cemented over. In the 1980s the building was demolished and replaced.