Public School 76, ca. 1930.

St. John's Lutheran, ca. 1905. Completed in 1898 for the German-speaking congregation of St. John's Lutheran Church, the English Gothic building was designed by an unknown architect. The community here thrived for the next six decades, but by the 1960s the German parishioners had largely moved away. The church was disbanded in 1972 and the structure was sold to the Grace Baptist Church of Christ, an African American congregation, which still occupies it.

Public School 76 was constructed in 1888 and originally known as the Wynona School before being given the designation as P.S. 76. The primary or elementary school was built with high ceilings and tall windows because, like many of the buildings constructed at the same time, it had no electricity for lights. Electric lights would only be installed in 1925. The school closed in 1979 and the building was damaged by a fire in the early 1980s. For many years it was a neighborhood eyesore and a venue for illicit activities. A local retiree and community board member named George Walker Jr. was a tireless advocate for the community and particularly for the safe and productive reuse of the school site on Wynona Street. After a long process the school building was eventually demolished in 1996 and a park was created and named after Walker who passed away in 1992.

The building on the far right of this 1922 photograph is the Tyrian Temple. Built between 1905 and 1907, it was the home of Tyrian Lodge #618, an organization of Free Mason. The lodge was established in 1867 and originally met in some rooms on Atlantic Avenue. This sect of the fraternal organization had over 400 members by 1900 and as such this more substantial building was constructed as their headquarters. Pennsylvania Avenue was one of the major thoroughfares in this neighborhood at the turn of the 20th century. It was lined with large, fine homes as well as important civic and social institutions, such as police stations, post offices, banks, and social clubs. The membership of this particular social club was a well-heeled group of doctors, lawyers, businessmen, and real estate developers. The building remained the social club until at least the 1940s, and it maybe have been used as a factory at some point after that. In 1971 the surviving #618 trustees sold the building to the Prince Hall Masons, an African-American Masonic body, which certainly reflected the demographic shift in the neighborhood. Though it still bares the name of that Masonic group, it has been owned by another organization and used as a community center since 2012.

233 New Jersey Avenue Architect unknown 1898 This stately Gothic Revival style church was originally built for the German congregation of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, which referred to itself as St. Johannes Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche – a name memorialized in stone at the base of the church’s tower. From its formation in 1847, this German immigrant congregation worshipped in a wooden church building at the corner of New Jersey and Liberty Avenues, making it one of East New York’s earliest institutions. The new church, constructed just south of the original building, was dedicated in 1898. Committed to staying connected to their heritage, the members of the church spoke German and for many years refused to conduct services in English. This was largely in response to the early 20th century trend of German congregations switching to English-speaking services. This eventually led to a schism in the congregation, wherein a group broke off to form the English-speaking Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Barbey Street. By the mid-20th century, most of the German population had moved out of East New York, so in 1972, the parish voted to disband and sold the building to the congregation of Grace Baptist Church of Christ, which continues to worship here. The structure is adjoined by a charming rectory building, faced in the same rough-hewn brick as the church.

This stately Gothic Revival style church was originally built for the German congregation of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, which referred to itself as St. Johannes EvangelischLutherische Kirche – a name memorialized in stone at the base of the church’s tower. From its formation in 1847, this German immigrant congregation worshipped in a wooden church building at the corner of New Jersey and Liberty Avenues, making it one of East New York’s earliest institutions. The new church, constructed just south of the original building, was dedicated in 1898. Committed to staying connected to their heritage, the members of the church spoke German and for many years refused to conduct services in English. This was largely in response to the early 20th century trend of German congregations switching to English-speaking services. This eventually led to a schism in the congregation, wherein a group broke off to form the English-speaking Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Barbey Street. By the mid-20th century, most of the German population had moved out of East New York, so in 1972, the parish voted to disband and sold the building to the congregation of Grace Baptist Church of Christ, which continues to worship here. The structure is adjoined by a charming rectory building, faced in the same rough-hewn brick as the church.

My Archive Summer 2019 “This is an eastbound J train of the Brooklyn Broadway/Jamaica Avenue EL entering the Van Siclen Avenue Station above Fulton Street in a photo taken by me in August of 1984. This section of the EL was opened in December 1885 and served as the eastern terminus of Brooklyn's first elevated line, the Lexington Avenue EL (which opened in 1885) and the Brooklyn Broadway EL (which opened in 1888) until 1893 when the line was extended to the then Brooklyn City/Queens County border at Cypress Hills; directly across the street from Cypress Hills Cemetery. This is the oldest stretch of unreconstructed elevated railroad structure still in use in the world.” —Eric Smith

(Emile M. Gruwe, c. 1886-92) To protect its rapidly growing population in the 1880s and 1890s, Brooklyn greatly expanded its police force and built precincts throughout its neighborhoods. This magnificently adorned but dilapidated structure served as the 75th Precinct until the 1970s. Affectionately known to the local community as “The Castle,” it was designed in the Romanesque Revival style with Venetian and Norman Revival ornament, including brick molded cornices, arched openings, brownstone moldings and stone bandcourses with carved faces and Byzantine leafwork. It originally had a crenellated roofline, lending it a fortress-like quality, but that detail has been removed. In 1976, the People’s First Baptist Church bought “The Castle” at auction from the City, but due to the declining health of the church’s owner and faith leader, the building fell into disrepair. In 2016, the building again changed hands, but its future is uncertain. A near-identical twin of this building, designed by the same architect, stands at 4302 Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn and was designated as an individual landmark in 1983. That building is also in a state of disrepair but is currently being considered for use as a public school.

This wood-frame corner building with the eye-catching peaked roofline was the local chapter of the Y.M.C.A. Opened in 1893, this structure served its original function until the late 1920s, when the larger, more modern Y.M.C.A opened on Jamaica Avenue near Highland Park. The building then housed the Polish Democratic Club and later the Polish Falcon Club, a catering hall. The building was demolished in the 1950s following a fire.

New Lots Town Hall ca. 1922 This structure stands as a rare remnant of the town of New Lots. In 1873, the newly established and growing town authorized a $10,000 bond for the construction of a town hall. Opening in December of that year, this building included office space, rooms for public assembly and a fire department. Later, space was made for a police force and jail cells, as well. After New Lots became the 26th Ward of the City of Brooklyn in 1886, a town hall was no longer necessary and the building became the 71st police precinct until 1892, when a larger police station was built at 484 Liberty Avenue (site 4). In 1899, the building became the 26th Ward Homeopathic Hospital and Dispensary, later the Bradford Hospital, until it closed in 1934. Eventually, the building was converted into a multifamily residence. Today, while its large windows have unfortunately been shrunk, their lintels and sills remain as a memory of the original openings. The building also retains its cornice and 1930s entrance porch

St. John's Lutheran Church, ca. 1890. Established in 1847 with the formal name of St. Johannes Evangeliach-Lutheriache Kirche, the first church building was a simple wood chapel on the on the southeast corner of New Jersey and Liberty Avenues. Serving the small but growing population of Germans in East New York, the church was enlarged in 1868 with a bell tower and an extension. The church replaced the wooden chapel with a brick edifice, constructed in 1898 just south on New Jersey Avenue from the original building. The wood-frame church was replaced with a Borden Milk plant.

Fire at the St. Malachy Parochial School at Atlantic Avenue and Hendrix Street, January 8, 1929. According to a Brooklyn Daily Eagle report bearing the headline "Nun, Clothing Aflame, Saves 213 Children as Parochial School Burns," the fire was attributed to a faulty flue. Sister St. Clare's robes caught fire as she sounded the first alarm, then led the successful evacuation of St. Malachy's pupils. The school building was unsalvageable and razed shortly thereafter.

153rd Precinct, ca. 1910. This small fortress-like building was constructed in 1891 and designed by George Ingram, whose medieval-style police stations dot the borough. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle described his works as “Palatial Homes for the Wielders of the Club." This Cypress Hills building is the twin of the station at Fourth Avenue and 43rd Street in Sunset Park. They both have large corner turrets and deep entrance pavilions. Following its service as a police facility (called at various points the 153rd, 75th, and 17th precincts) , it was the People’s First Baptist Church in the 1970s. While some of Ingram's creations still function as police stations, both the Sunset Park and Cypress Hills buildings have been empty and largely abandoned for the last few decades.