5th Avenue - Berkeley Place, 1929. This corner building was one of the hundreds of James Butler' grocery stores opened by Irish immigrant Butler. The original store opened in 1882 in Manhattan with more stores added each year. In 1905, over a four month period, he opened 40 stores. Though this photograph is black and white, you should imagine that the storefront is green, as ALL of the James Butler stores were painted the same dark green. A 1910 advertisement of the store enticed with quip, "Thrift is the highway to prosperity and happiness, and every one of the James Butler groceries is an entrance to this pleasant road." By 1922 James Butler would have 577 stores open in New York, New Jersey and Long Island, and just before the business went into bankruptcy in 1935, there were more than one thousand. Butler himself died in 1934, perhaps precipitating the bankruptcy of the following year.

How high the hydrant Caption: "How high the hydrant--Either they're building fire plugs higher these days, or ... well, at any rate, 18-month-old Anthony Castaldo of 272 3d Ave. isn't worrying about much of anything except how to beat the heat. Scene at President Street and 3d Avenue shows he found the answer. Forecast for today is fair with the high near 80 degrees--Eagle photo by Senko"; he holds a small can in front of the water gushing from the fire hydrant, two girls look on, behind him on left, and a black car is parked in right background.

In 2013 the Brooklyn Collection acquired several boxes of Brooklyn Dodgers memorabilia from Al Todres, a lifelong collector. Todres certainly wasn’t the only one actively collecting Brooklyn Dodgers material nearly 60 years after the team was transferred to Los Angeles. Why does a baseball team that left Brooklyn in the middle of the last century still inspire so much loyalty and curiosity? Every collector has a different answer, and it certainly goes beyond statistics and player performance. The team that would become the Dodgers played in Eastern Park when Brooklyn was still an independent city, through a depression and two world wars. The story of the Dodgers runs parallel to the development of modern Brooklyn, but it wasn’t always an easy story.

"East side of Sixth Avenue between Berkeley Place and Lincoln Place, looking north."

Construction of the BMT Fourth Avenue line at Carroll Street, February 20, 1912. At far left is the D'Ambrosio Italian American Restaurant at No. 262 Fourth Avenue. At far right, with the American Flag flying, is Public Bath No. 7 at President Street. The neo-Renaissance baths, completed in 1910, are the oldest surviving public bathing facility in Brooklyn; the building was converted to a gymnasium, the Brooklyn Lyceum, in 1937. A multi-year restoration project was recently completed ahead of further conversion.

“View from behind home plate of a pitch thrown during a Brooklyn Dodgers versus Chicago Cubs game. Pitcher is Lefty Liefield of the Chicago Cubs from 1912-1913.” - Ralph Irving Lloyd This is the second Washington Park, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers (previously the Brooklyn Superbas, Bridegrooms, Trolley Dodgers, National Leaguers) from 1898 to 1913. In 1913 they decamped to Ebbets Field on the east side of Prospect Park. The apartment buildings visible over the right field fence were on the north side of 1st Street, between Whitwell and Denton Places.

Who said it's hot? Caption: "Who said it's hot?--The \[eleven] kids in front of 575 Carroll St., between 4th Avenue and 5th Avenue, give a demonstration on how to beat the heat as they frolic in spray from a fire hydrant. Vincent Vollaro (left), 620 Carroll St. and Dominick Montemarano, 579 Carroll St., hold their dog, Rusty, who doesn't seem to enjoy it as much as they youngsters."

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.