The Girl's High School 475 Nostrand Avenue Designed by James W. Naughton, 1885–86 James W. Naughton immigrated with his family from Ireland to Brooklyn when he was eight years old. Naughton became a trained architect and was closely involved in Brooklyn politics, which led him to the position of Superintendent of Buildings for the Board of Education from 1879–1898. As superintendent, Naughton designed all schools constructed in Brooklyn. The Girls’ School is the oldest surviving structure built as a high school in New York, and it served as the prototype for later high schools constructed in the city. A combination of Victorian Gothic and French Second Empire styles, the school is faced in red brick, terra cotta and contrasting stone. It is symmetrically massed, with a central towered entrance and three pavilions, each of which project and are connected by recessed sections. At the rear of the building is a large Collegiate-Gothic style addition designed in 1912 by long-time New York City Superintendent of School Buildings C.B.J. Snyder

ca. 1938 This two-story, wood-frame school was Public School 3, later known as Old Public School 3. The school was founded in 1855. The Board of Education was able to replace the school and move it to the site of Public School 3 on Jefferson and Hancock Avenues. The Old Public School was converted into a library in 1897 through a contribution of $1.6 million from Andrew Carnegie.

"Madison Street (right), at the northeast corner of Nostrand Avenue. The buildings on Nostrand Avenue extend to Monroe Street, 1941."

Church of the Nativity, ca. 1941. The Church of the Nativity was built in 1915 by Raymond Almirall who, over the course of his career, designed many hospitals, libraries, and buildings for the Catholic Church in Brooklyn. The building's design references those of the early churches of Italy, with running arches, classical columns, and a very early Christian basilica style interior. In its earliest days, the Church of the Nativity served the area's large Irish Catholic population. While there was little mixing with Germans and Italians, the church was known to turn other ethnic Catholics groups away. In 1921, Rev. Bernard Quinn, who had spent his career petitioning for a church where black and white Catholics could worship together, built St. Peter Claver Church only three blocks away. His service became so popular that it drew people from all over Brooklyn, including the Church of the Nativity. With time, St. Peter Claver continued to grow and the Church of the Nativity began to shrink. Finally, in 1973, the diocese closed the Nativity and merged its congregation with St. Peter Claver. By the turn of the twenty-first century, the parish sold the church to a Pentecostal church, Elim Gospel Tabernacle, which still occupies the space today. The Elim congregation considered the Catholic iconography in the building to be a "heathen," and tore down anything that was overtly Catholic. As such, the Almirall Church that stands today is only Catholic on the exterior!

Bedford Branch, August 24, 1941. The Bedford Library was the first branch of the Brooklyn Public Library system, which opened in 1897. It was originally housed in a series of non-purpose built structures, including the old P.S. 3 on Bedford Avenue. Between 1904 and 1905 a new Carnegie Library building was constructed to the designs of the architectural firm of Lord & Hewlett, who designed seven of the Carnegies in total. Similar to other "suburban" style libraries, Bedford is set back from the street, surrounded by a small lawn, and rendered in a Classical Revival style of red brick with simple limestone ornamentation. The lampposts visible flanking the entrance in this 1941 photograph have been restored.

Bedford Y.M.C.A. ca. 1923 In 1853 the first YMCA in Brooklyn opened its doors. Back then, the mission of the Young Men’s Christian Association was more evangelical than anything – but they did have a swimming pool and other such facilities. The Bedford Avenue branch opened in 1888 at its original location of 420 Gates Avenue in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. As the population of the area expanded in size, so did the need for an even larger space to accommodate everyone and by the turn of the century in 1901, construction was underway for a new space at 1115 Bedford Avenue. The new location (as seen above) officially opened its doors in 1905 offering amenities such as a state-of-the-art (at the time) gymnasium and swimming pool. Over the next several decades, the neighborhood’s changing demographics along with the continued segregation of YMCA facilities through the mid-1940s caused the Bedford Avenue YMCA’s visitors and memberships to dwindle. As a result, classes were permanently canceled, funding was reduced, and the property fell into a state of neglect. In 2007, instead of receiving much-needed renovations, the building was demolished and a new building was erected in its place. Now residing at 1121 Bedford Ave on the corner of Monroe Street, it has become one of the busiest locations in Brooklyn, with a membership roster of over 8,000 people.

260 Quincy Street, 1911. Built by a trio of English-born architect brothers, the Parfitt Brothers, the Nostrand Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church was completed in 1881. The parish had been founded here on the corner of Quincy and Nostrand Avenue in 1870. The church building is ostensibly Gothic Revival but also features details of the Shingle and Stick and English Arts and Crafts styles. The architects took advance of the corner plot to play mirrors facades that meet at the corner, rendered in brick, wood trim, terra-cotta, and glass. The current congregation is the John Wesley M.E. Church, a community founded in 1916 of mostly Caribbean parishioners. The parish moved to this location in 1947 from a former Greek Orthodox church on Pacific Street, as much of congregation already lived in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

186 Quincy Street, 1913. J. C. Hoagland, Civil War veteran, wholesale grocer, and baking powder mogul, built this home circa 1874. Designed by an unknown architect, the Second Empire residence housed the Hoaglands for less than 20 years. By 1909 the home was occupied by a music school, and within the next decade, it became a multi-family residence. Today the once single family house has 11 units. The building has been maintained very well, though the owners removed the iron cresting at the roofline during renovations in 2015.

Enoch Grand Lodge 423 Nostrand Avenue Designed by Heins & LaFarge, 1890 This exuberant building features a dominant corner tower, contrasting brick and terra cotta, finials, stylized capitals and stained glass from its days as the Reformed Episcopal Church of the Reconciliation. The building is notable for its architects. George Lewis Heins and Christopher Grant LaFarge met while studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and both trained under the renowned architect H.H. Richardson. A year after this church was completed, they won the design contest for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan. They later became the designers of stations and buildings for the city’s first subway system, the IRT, in 1901.

Nostrand Avenue at Fulton Street, August 11, 1950. The Nostrand Avenue Line trolley tracks are visible at center on Nostrand. Traveling along Fulton Street is a bus manufactured by the General Motors Corporation. This was a GM "old-look" bus (compared to the “new-look” or “fishbowl” buses that were introduced in 1959). These vehicles, produced mostly between 1940 and 1959, were created with a monocoque (or structural skin) design, rather than a body-on-frame design, were diesel-powered, and had smaller windows than many of the buses produced after 1950. Some have compared the shape of this bus to a loaf of sandwich bread.

Boys High School, undated postcard. Rendered in a stately Richardsonian Romanesque Revival style, Boys High School was the work of Brooklyn Superintendent of School Buildings, James Naughton (who designed ALL of Brooklyn's schools for nearly two decades). This ornate architecture style of complex massing, repetitive arches, and soaring towers was popular in Brooklyn at the time. The main post office and fire house, social clubs, and private residences were all Richardsonian, though Boys High School is considered the epitome of the style in the city. Fully enrolled by the time it opened in 1892, the school had a number additions in the early 20th century. Famous alum of the school include Norman Mailer, Isaac Asimov, Aaron Copland, Man Ray, and architect Morris Lapidus. Boys and Girls High Schools were combined in 1975 in a new building and this one was left to deteriorate. Through the advocacy of the community and a landmark designation (in 1975) the building was kept from what might have been a likely demolition and eventually restored once again for use. Today it is home to charter schools and recently made a guest appearance as Knickerbocker Hospital in the TV show "The Knick."

Girls High School, May 1, 1942. Built 1885 to 1886, Girls High School is the oldest extant (surviving) public high school building in New York City. The school is described in its landmark designation report as "a striking combination of Victorian Gothic and French Second Empire styles." The architect was James Naughton, the Superintendent of Buildings for the Board of Education of the City of Brooklyn. He also created a 1891 rear extension, which has since been demolished. A 1912 Collegiate Gothic addition was designed by C.B.J Snyder, who later held the same position as Naughton, though his purview was all five boroughs. According to an 1895 article in the New York Times, it was "the ambition of every Brooklyn girl... to enter the Girls' High School where she may enjoy the advantages of an advanced education and be prepared for college." Famous alumni of the school include singer Lena Horne, politician Shirley Chisholm, and Jean Nidetch, who found Weight Watchers.

The Bedford-Stuyvesant community in northwest Brooklyn is a residential area, home to ornate rows of brownstones, early middle-class apartment buildings and several institutional structures. Bedford-Stuyvesant is characterized by its wide, tree-covered avenues and low-scale residences; generally only church spires and school towers rise taller than four stories. The majority of the buildings were constructed on speculation to house New York’s growing middle class, generally between 1870 and 1920. As late as 1869, Bedford-Stuyvesant was largely rural, with only some country houses and frame dwellings. In 1872 masonry rowhouses appeared when developer Curtis L. North commissioned 23 Italianate style rowhouses. From this point until the 1890s, development proceeded with many speculative builders and investors employing local architects to build residences; schools, churches and other institutions also appeared to serve the growing community. The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883, followed by the elevated line along Bedford-Stuyvesant’s commercial artery, Fulton Street, in 1888. Easier access to downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan greatly increased real estate values in the neighborhood. By the 1890s, speculative apartment houses debuted in Bedford-Stuyvesant, officially marking the change from a suburban to an urban area. The opening of the Williamsburg Bridge in 1903 bolstered this urbanization, and Bedford-Stuyvesant was densely built up by the end of the 1920s. The 1930s marked a population shift for Bedford-Stuyvesant as it became an increasingly African-American neighborhood. When the IND transit lines connecting the area to Harlem opened in 1936, Harlem residents were eager to leave cramped quarters for newer, more spacious options in Bedford-Stuyvesant. By 1950 the area was 90% black, and it remains a thriving African- and Caribbean-American neighborhood today. Bedford-Stuyvesant is an aesthetic gem of elegant residences. Many houses have yards with plantings surrounded by original cast-iron fences. Rowhouses are set back from the street and possess their original stoops and railings. The architectural style of buildings followed the trends popular during the area’s development, including Italianate, Neo-Grec, Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne, and, at the turn of the 20th century, Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Georgian appeared. The materials of the buildings also give an idea of their age; older buildings were constructed of brick and brownstone, while light-colored brick, terra-cotta and limestone became increasingly popular toward the turn of the 20th century. Stuyvesant Heights in Bedford-Stuyvesant was designated a New York City historic district in 1975, and a large extension of its boundaries had a public hearing in 2011. Residents in other areas of Bedford-Stuyvesant, including Bedford Corners, Stuyvesant North and Stuyvesant East, are also advocating for the landmarking of their neighborhoods. The low-scale buildings on tree-lined streets share architects, styles and details, together making Bedford-Stuyvesant a distinctive piece of New York City.

Invincible Club, ca. 1915. Constructed sometime before 1880, this building served as a private home for its first decade or so. In the mid 1890s its was sold to a private club called the the Irving Club, before being sold to the (hopefully) named Invincible Club, a local Republican political group. The political club added an addition to the house and hosted political speeches and rallies over the first three decades of the 20th century. At some point in the mid century the building was divided up and occupied as an SRO. It underwent a large-scale renovation in 2011 and is now a rental unit.

Sometimes creating affordable housing and preserving historical architecture goes hand-in-hand, like at Alhambra Apartments in Bed-Stuy. The block-long apartment building is located on Nostrand Avenue between Halsey and Macon Streets and dates back to 1889. It was designed by prominent NYC architect Montrose W. Morris, and features a unique blend of the Romanesque Revival and Queen Anne styles. The New York Times has even described this building as Morris’ “masterpiece”! Although designated as an official NYC historic landmark in 1986, Alhambra Apartments remained vacant and severely dilapidated until 1995 when HPD helped preserve its historic façade and convert its interior into low-income affordable housing with homeless set-asides. In 2010, HPD provided additional financing to secure the building’s stability and affordability, allowing it to be a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community into the future. In keeping with this work, HPD has now released a housing plan for Bed Stuy to prevent displacement, reduce housing speculation and create new affordable rental and homeownership opportunities on vacant land. Learn more at nyc.gov/bedstuy

The Boy's High School 832 Marcy Avenue Designed by James W. Naughton, 1891–92 The monumental Boys’ School was designed in the Romanesque Revival style and features quintessential design elements, such as rounded-arch windows and doors, dormer windows, gables, terra-cotta ornament, smooth brick façades and a rough-cut ashlar stone foundation. The imposing corner towers create a picturesque silhouette between this massive structure and the sky. Along with the Girls’ High School, it was the first public secondary school in New York City, and both were designated New York City landmarks in 1983.

Alhambra Apartments ARCHITECT: Montrose W. Morris DATE: 1889-90 STYLE: Romanesque Revival The Alhambra Apartments in the heart of Bedford-Stuyvesant is one of Brooklyn’s major apartment houses. Designed by Montrose W. Morris, it was built in 1889-90 by developer Louis F. Seitz and was one of a number of commissions Morris executed for Seitz, including two other exceptional apartment buildings, the Renaissance and the Imperial. Although the ground floor was converted into storefronts in 1923, the Alhambra is a distinguished design in a romantic combination of the Romanesque Revival and the Queen Anne styles.

218 Gates Avenue, 1919. In the late 1860s, the wealthy lace merchant John Gibb built is massive Second Empire mansion for his growing family (he would eventually have 13 children by two wives). He also owned much of the surrounding land, so for its first few decades, no other buildings stood between this house and Classon Avenue. (Gibbs was a bit of a curmudgeon who did not wish to be bothered on his quiet property.) In the late 1880s, Gibb and two of his sons got even richer when they went into business with Frederick Loeser. Frederick Loeser & Company became one of the largest department stores in Brooklyn. Gibb moved out to his Long Island estate at the turn of the century, and the large house cycled through several well-heeled owners. Owing to its enormous square footage, the house was converted into a convalescent home following the first World War. Later it was the Long Island Motor Club, a social club before becoming Hopewell House, a residential space for underprivileged women and children. In the second half of the 20th century, the homes became Plaza North Hotel, a hotel and event venue. This use ended in the 1980s after the activities here and in the more recently constructed outer building devolved in the illegal sphere. It then sat empty and in ruins. The Pratt Area Community Council bought the house from the city in 2000. They restored and reworked the mansion offices, meeting rooms and public spaces, while demolishing the outbuildings and constructing new edifices with studio apartments on the Monroe Street side of the lot. Today the complex includes more than 70 units of affordable housing.

Boy’s High School, Brooklyn Located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn and built in 1891-92, this Romanesque Revival building is one of former Superintendent of Buildings for the Board of Education of the City of Brooklyn, James W. Naughton’s masterpieces. Considered to be the one of the most important public schools in Brooklyn, the building was designed to be an architectural statement, richly adorned with terracotta and accented by a round corner tower, gables and dormers. Landmarked in 1975 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, Boy’s High School remains “one of Brooklyn’s finest buildings”.