Park Slope Branch, ca.1925. Completed in 1906 to the designs of Raymond F. Almirall, the current Park Slope Branch was originally named the Prospect Branch (it was renamed in 1975). Raymond F. Almirall designed four Brooklyn branches and was a member of the Brooklyn Carnegie Committee’s Architects’ Advisory Commission. Built in a Classic Revival style, the building is set back from the street and is symmetrical in floorplan. The interior of this branch is notable for being particularly ornate and largely still original. The entrance floor is a multi-colored mosaic and the walls of the reading rooms are clad in wooden wainscoting. Other interior features include arched stained glass windows and tiled and wood-framed fireplaces.

My Archive Spring 2019 "I was walking the avenue with my camera when I came upon an unusual sight. The couple behind the horse were arguing and the woman was complaining about being embarrassed." —Michael Castellano

Acme Hall was a prominent social club built in 1890. It was designed in the Romanesque style by architect C. Nickenig. The original building was adorned with a crenelated roofline and a tower that jutted out of its southeast corner. The tower bore its name, "The Acme," in an Amherst stone carving. The hall lost its elite status however: in the 1930s it was raided for showing stag films - quite a departure from its well-to-do upbringings. By then, the eatery downstairs was "Diamonds," a bar and grill infamous for a shooting in 1938. A patron, Robert Joyce, was upset over a comment about the Brooklyn Dodger's defeat by the Giants in the National League. Joyce, who had reportedly consumed 18 glasses of beer that evening, shot two people - one of them was the son of the bar's owner. In 1945 , The Acme was turned over to become a mixture of stores and lofts after being purchased by Ernest S. Felzman. An illegal garment factory and loft residencies also found their way into the building around this time. The Acme was turned over once again to Howard Pronsky in 1986. Sometime before the new ownership, the tower was removed and the whimsical crenelation was replaced by a more modest roofline. The space was converted to offices after a $750,000 renovation, making it one of the first non-brownstone buildings with office space in the neighborhood. Today, it operates as a music studio.

Public School 39 ARCHITECT: Samuel B. Leonard DATE: 1876-77 STYLE: French Second Empire Erected in 1876-77 as P.S. 39, this building was renamed in 1916 to honor Henry Bristow, whose home had served as a temporary schoolhouse during construction. Believed to have been designed by Samuel B. Leonard, the building is transitional in style, combining distinctive Italianate features – such as round-arched windows, cornices with modillions, and paired brackets – with mansard roofs typical of the French Second Empire style.

Park Slope Branch, Brooklyn Public Library 431 Sixth Avenue Raymond F. Almirall, 1905-06 This library was originally the Prospect Branch, housed beginning in 1900 in Prospect Park’s Litchfield Villa and consisting solely of books related to natural history. As Park Slope’s population grew, the demand for a larger, all-purpose library led to its relocation in 1901 to several storefronts on 9th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. By 1904, the city purchased a large site and began planning for a new Carnegie-funded building. Its name was changed to Park Slope in 1975. The Classical Revival style, brick-clad building with limestone trim features an imposing, projecting portico entrance with Doric columns and a stone pediment. Like those found on the Pacific Branch, the torches in the keystones above the entrance and windows represent the light of learning. Its intact interior features stained glass, tiled fireplaces, wood paneling and marble mosaic floors. The Park Slope branch was designated in 1998.

Etching of the Old Dutch House, Long Island, circa 1907, from Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks Built in 1699, the Old Stone House was originally home to a family of Dutch farmers. On August 27th, 1776, barely two months after the Declaration of Independence was made public, the Old Stone House served as the location for one of the first major battles in the Revolutionary War; the Battle of Brooklyn. The Battle of Brooklyn was a significant defeat for the American Continental Army. Realizing that they were outnumbered five to one, General William Alexander and Major Mordecai Gist led a regiment that came to be known as the Maryland 400 (although there were only about 270 soldiers) against 2,000 British troops. They fought to cover the retreat of another 9,000 American soldiers, led by George Washington himself. They were able to escape in a strategic retreat through the Gowanus Canal, across the East River, and safely into Manhattan. The British troops defeated the Maryland 400 due to their superior numbers. In the aftermath, the British began their occupation of both Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Laundry, grocery, and dry goods stores on Fifth Avenue, 1959.