Carroll Gardens Branch, May 16, 1923. Originally called the Carroll Park Branch (it was renamed in 1973), the Carroll Gardens Library was completed in March of 1905. Deigned by William Tubby, a well-known Brooklyn architect better known for his Romanesque and Dutch Revival-style private residences, the library structure is a more modest Classical Revival building. The facility served the considerable Italian-American community of the neighborhood, providing lectures in Italian on Sunday in the decade after it opened. In the 1930s the library offered citizenship classes and worked with National League of American Citizenship assisting more than 10,000 people in the naturalization process.

1840s row houses on Warren Street in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, October 9, 1960. These three-story row houses were built by John Greacen, Jr. between 1845-47, on land purchased by his father, John Greacen, Sr. in 1832. The elder Greacen lived in both Nos. 225 (far right) and 229 (second from right — No. 227 is obscured by the angle of the photograph). At the time, Warren Street was known as John Street, named for the father-and-son duo who spurred its development.

Foster Building, New Year’s Eve 1958. Built in 1898, the four-storefront-wide brick building retains much of its original detail, including pediments above each of its four residential entrances and the bold “Foster” name on a panel above the shared cornice. The origin of the Foster name is unclear; it was built by William B. Tubby for owners Mary J.F. Pratt and Ida F. Grampton.

St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church and School, 1934. Designed by Patrick Charles Keeley, the Romanesque Revival church was dedicated in 1860. The St. Peter’s School at 101 Warren Street was added in 1866. The church closed in 1975 and was converted into condominiums, retaining much of its exterior features.

Northeast corner of Court and Amity streets, New Year’s Eve 1958. Built for grocer Thomas McGlinn in 1848, a 20th century remodel added 160 Court Street’s signature black marble storefront.

Apartment building at the corner of Amity and Clinton Streets (No. 173 Amity), February 8, 1960. Built in 1900, No. 173 Amity features curved bays matching its neighbors on Clinton Street, and a combination of limestone and brickwork on its Amity Street facade, interrupted by two-story bay windows. The Landmarks Preservation Commission cites the influence of the Chicago World’s Fair in its architectural “eclecticism.”

219 Clinton Street, 1960. Described in the 1969 Historic District Designation Report as “without a doubt the most imposing property in the Cobble Hill Historic District,” 219 Clinton Street includes the first electric passenger elevator built in a private building, dating to an early 1890s renovation of the 1844 home.

Bay window and garden on the Congress Street side of 367 Henry Street, Cobble Hill; December 15, 1958. This Italianate brownstone was one of three constructed between 1850-1853 for merchant Charles F.A. Hinrichs. The sheetmetal bay window, painted black, was a later addition.

"View of west side of Court Street between Amity Street & Congress Streets looking south. Whelan Drugs on corner right."

Court Street at Warren Street, June 5, 1961. No. 212 Court Street (right), at the southwest corner of Warren Street was at the time occupied by a bar and restaurant. In 1985, the Community Bookstore moved into the renovated space, and would become a beloved neighborhood fixture. Proprietor John Scioli, with his wife Susan, opened the first Community Bookstore in Park Slope in 1971, and later expanded with an outpost in Brooklyn Heights. When the couple divorced, in 1980, John kept the Brooklyn Heights store, while Susan retained the original Park Slope location. In 1985, after a rent hike forced the Community Bookstore to abandon its Montague Street storefront, Scioli purchased 212 Court Street for $500,000. Making his home in an upstairs apartment, Scioli amassed a collection of tens of thousands of books — rare, forgettable, and otherwise — stacked haphazardly throughout the dusty and claustrophobic ground floor. Scioli kept his own hours, usually opening in the afternoon and closing up shop late at night, and could often be found perched on his folding chair out front, cigarette in hand, sorting through new arrivals. In 2015, Scioli sold the property for $5.5 million and closed up shop for the final time a year later. The building has since been renovated, and a spare real estate office occupies the once cluttered former bookstore.

Commercial strip on the east side of Columbia Street, 1934. In the first half of the 20th century, prior to the construction of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway's South Brooklyn segment, the docks to the west of Cobble Hill were a major employer and Columbia Street was one of a few vibrant commercial areas serving the community.

Set of three rowhouses with connected iron porch, 1933. These houses date to the mid-19th century, appearing on property maps as early as 1855.

South Congregational Church, 1922. The South Congregational Church complex at Court and President Streets includes a chapel (1851), the main church (1857), the ladies parlor (1889), and the rectory (1893). According to its 1982 Landmarks Preservation Commission report, the church “fits into a general pattern of towered Early Romanesque Revival style churches, but is unusual for the extraordinary manner in which the brick is modeled on the facade.” The church steeple, pictured here in 1922, was a perennial concern. A 1879 Brooklyn Daily Eagle report observed that “the steeple has always been more or less regarded as insecure” after January winds made “the entire tower rock from side to side.” In 1902, the Buildings Department declared the spire “unsafe” and mandated repairs. The steeple survived until at least 1936, when the Eagle reported that the church had decided to keep the “source of pride and worry.” However, it was dismantled prior to the church’s 1982 Landmark designation and its subsequent conversion into residential apartments.

The name Cobble Hill came into use in the 1950s, likely an update from the name "Cobles Hill" which can be found on a 1766 map. Organized community groups fought against large housing projects, and advocated to make the area an historic district.

St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal Church, 1922. The High Victorian Gothic church was designed by architect Richard Upjohn, who lived just a few blocks north at the corner of Clinton and Baltic Streets. The church was completed in 1884, 17 years after construction commenced.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and Female Orphan Asylum. July 4, 1930. Note the American flag hanging from the rectory window, to the left of the church building.

In 1878, the cornerstone was laid for the Pilgrim Chapel on the corner of Henry and Degraw Streets. The architect, J. Cleveland Cady, designed an Italianate-style building with a tall tower that had an exterior of Philadelphia pressed brick trimmed with Belleville stone and terra cotta. The auditorium had a high ceiling with open timbers, and was lighted by a continuous clear-story in which were windows filled with rolled cathedral glass of beautiful designs. There were 15 rooms grouped around the auditorium, all having direct light, ventilation and heat. When the Sunday-school rooms were opened into the auditorium, there was a capacity of 1,200 people.

The former Second Unitarian Church of Brooklyn, 1934. Affectionately known as the “Church of the Holy Turtle” for its squat cruciform footprint and low, green roof, the church was built in 1858 on land leased from the Catholic Church. Its founding minister included the abolitionist Reverend Samuel Longfellow, brother of the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The church’s final service was held in December 1924; it was later rented to various tenants. In 1962 — three years before the establishment of the Landmarks Preservation Commission — the church was razed ahead of a planned supermarket development. That plan was defeated by the Cobble Hill Association, who successfully petitioned for the creation of Cobble Hill Park, dedicated in July 1965.

The forty foot-wide Gothic Revival house at 223 Congress Street, 1960. Built in 1849 for use by St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church and the Free School for Boys, it was leased to Reverend John Hughes, Bishop of New York, until at least 1870. Originally two stories with a high basement, the third floor and mansard roof were added later in the 19th century. Subsequent changes to the top-floor dormer windows provoked an uncharacteristic rebuke in the 1969 Historic District Preservation report: “It is for alterations such as these that the Commission could aid owners in achieving a distinguished result!”

Bakery at the corner of Henry and President Streets, June 26, 1961. This late 19th century corner building draws architectural elements from the Romanesque Revival (rough-hewn stone, round-arched upper windows) and Queen Anne (asymmetry, tiled roof) styles. The corner tower and pressed metal cornice along the entire roofline include intricate detail.

Twin rowhouses on Strong Place, 1958. Built in 1897 for developer James Dunne, both houses were designed as residences for multiple families, one per floor. The Romanesque Revival pair are notable for their full-height curved bay windows and ground level stonework.

"Northwest corner of Court and Kane Streets, “Dr. P.I. Adesso, dental surgeon, has offices on 2nd floor,” 1958." This brick and terra cotta Queen Anne building dates to 1886, when Kane was known as Harrison Street. In addition to the dental surgeon upstairs, the ground floor pharmacy features a prominent advertisement for Ex-Lax, the laxative product then manufactured on Atlantic Avenue.

Amity Street, between Court and Clinton Streets, February 12, 1960. The Landmarks Preservation Commission’s 1969 Designation Report for Cobble Hill describes No. 179 (center-right, with mansard roof) as “an unusually interesting example of the French Second Empire style as modified by Neo-Grec decorative motifs,” noting it’s prominent triangular pediments, mansard roof, and ironwork. The townhouse was built in the early 1870s for John Shuster, the owner of “a successful marble works."

Three Neo-Grec townhouses on Amity Street, February 28, 1960. These townhouses, Nos. 129-133 Amity Street, were originally part of a row of ten built between 1875-81.

Court Street, west side, north of DeGraw Street, December 31, 1958. The Paras Court Theatre is seen at right at 292 Court Street. The theatre opened in 1924. The building included a 599-seat theatre on the main floor and a dance hall on the second floor. The local Italian community used the hall for social gatherings including the 1925 "Primo Annuale Ballo." The theatre closed in 1959 and, at some point, after that a mid-century facade was added to the main entrance way, creating a storefront with metal screens and window frames. The building functioned as a day care from 1979 and today is a Montessori school. The mid-facade has also been replaced.

By 1916, the Pilgrim Chapel had been decommissioned and was known as the Oriole Theater. Today's it's a MET supermarket.

"Henry Street, north from Kane Street (formerly Harrison Street). In the right foreground is Public School No. 29; in the left center, at Warren Street, St. Peter's Hospital."

Improvised pool Caption: "Improvised pool--These city kids can't cool off by plunging into the old swimming hole, so they've made their own swimming pool out of a tank used by builders in construction work. Bobbie Perkins of 183 Congress St. sprays hose on pals, Jackie Kennedy, 3 1/2, of 175 Congress St., and Jackie's brother, Jimmy, 5;" another boy is sitting in background; portion of front steps and railing in right background.

Home Made Delicatessen at the corner of Court and Warren Streets, 1958. No. 210 is part of a set of Greek Revival rowhouses built between 1845-47, notable for its distinctive twin chimneys. The houses were built for John Greacen Jr., whose father John Greacen had purchased a block-and-a-half parcel of land on Warren Street (then John Street), west of Court Street (then Red Hook Lane) in 1832.

36 Strong Place, 1958. In 1834, Cobble Hill's current street grid was laid out between Atlantic Avenue and Butler Street (later Harrison Street, now Kane Street). Strong Place was the first new street paved below that boundary, in 1856. Sitting at the back of its lot, no. 36 was likely a stable belonging to the broker Charles Kelsey, who owned several lots on or near Strong Place and developed properties in the surrounding area.

Jenny Jerome, Winston Churchill's mother, was born in 1854 just a few blocks away at 197 Amity St. However it's the house on the corner at 426 Henry St., where Jenny later lived with her uncle that (inaccurately) bears a plaque to mark the event. In 1953 (seven years before this photo was taken) Churchill at the age of 74 made a visit to New York, and came to the house, to the delight of the neighborhood and city. He stood in front of the house and proclaimed “I am most grateful to those who have put up this tablet in commemoration of my mother, who was born here in Brooklyn.” The plaque has been there ever since.

St. Paul’s Convent, 1960. Built in the 1840s for the wife of Captain Isaac Brewer 👨‍✈️, a wealthy ship captain, 235 Clinton later became the home of the Convent for the Sisters of Charity of St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church. The Sisters left in 1978, but the stained glass windows remain.

"Clinton Street, st the S.W. corner of Kane Street, showing the Christ Protestant Episcopal Church." Designed by famed church architect Richard Upjohn for the fourth Epsicopal congregation established in Brooklyn, the cornerstone of this church was laid in 1842. Louis C. Tiffany designed an altar, altar railing,pulpit, lectern and chairs in 1917 and these interior features were entirely restored following the fire that devastated the church in 1939. In 2012, lighting hit the tower and falling debris killed a man who was walking underneath.