Spanning 219 acres, the Brooklyn Navy Yard was the largest shipbuilding facility in the country. It supplied the Navy with floating workshops, tank-landing ships (LSTs), aircraft carriers, and battleships. At the height of wartime production, the Yard operated 24 hours a day, employing 75,000 men and women.

The Commandant's House was built in 1806 as the quarters for the commodore of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Rumor has it that Charles Bulfinch, the Federal-era starchitect responsible for the iconic dome of the U.S. Capitol, was behind the design. There is scant evidence to prove Bulfinch's involvement, save for the dubious claim that the proportions of the dining room are exactly the same as those of the Oval Office. In 1841, Captain Matthew C. Perry, commander of all U.S. naval vessels in New York Harbor, moved into what was then called Quarters A of the New York Navy Yard. Perry would go on to convince Japan to open their borders to trade with the U.S., a feat he accomplished by sailing several large naval vessels into Tokyo Bay. The house, which was once painted a "creamy yellow," was home to successive Navy Yard commandants for nearly two centuries. In 1974, eight years after the Navy Yard was decommissioned, the building was designated as a National Historic Landmark. The property's transformation from military quarters to private residence began in 1996, when Charles Gilbert and Jennifer Jones became its first civilian owners. It cannot be cheap to maintain a huge old house that, due to its landmark status, cannot be changed. That is probably why the home is frequently used for TV and movie shoots, most famously as the home for Nucky Thompson in Boardwalk Empire.

“133 to 139 Park Avenue, at the N. E. corner of Cumberland Street. October 10, 1940.” Today numbered 131 and 135 Park Avenue, the two buildings adjoining the northeast corner of Cumberland Street are among the few to survive the construction of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway along Park Avenue.

Women in Brooklyn have been leaders of social change on every conceivable political front, from the fight for racial justice and the right to vote, to equality around labor and reproductive rights. Women have also been at the forefront of protest efforts against the Vietnam War and for environmental justice. In this story, the Center for Brooklyn History highlights Brooklyn women with powerful activist legacies, from ordinary women joining the workforce during World War II to the formation of a barmaids union to icons like Lena Horne.

“Cumberland Street, east side, north from No. 37, seen in the foreground, is just south of Flushing Avenue. Upon the vacant lot once stood the Boughton farmhouse. April, 1925.”

"Brooklyn: Little Street - John Street. Little Street, east side, at the end of John Street, showing frame house in front of steel structure of the United States (Brooklyn) Navy Yard."

Commandant's House, 1954. Tucked away behind a large gate in the slice of Brooklyn between Vinegar Hill and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the Commandant's House or Quarters A is a little-seen architectural gem. Constructed in 1806 for the top officer of the Navy facility, the Federal style mansion was possibly designed by Charles Bulfinch. Bulfinch, considered by many to be America's first professional architect, is best known for the U.S. Capitol Building. (Some suggest this attribution is perhaps 20th-century wishful thinking.) Commodore Matthew Perry was the most famous resident of the house. He lived here while the commanding officer of the naval installation in the 1840s. The house continued to serve as the charming and picturesque residence of the Commandant until the Navy Yard closed in 1964. The government sold the house in 1979, and it has remained a private home since then.

Admiral's Row was a series of Second Empire-style homes formerly used by naval officers at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Though the Navy Yard was decommissioned in 1966, some Admiral’s Row buildings were occupied into the 1970s. After decades of neglect, in the late summer of 2016, all of the buildings, save one (Building B) were demolished. Pictured here: Quarters E-F-G (center) and Quarters I (right).

“Flushing Avenue, south side, west from N. Elliott Place. At the left foreground between N. Elliott Place and St. Edwards Street are some old buildings soon to be demolished. Beyond St. Edwards Street is a city park. August 25, 1938.” The “city park,” now called Commodore Barry Park, was acquired by the Village of Brooklyn in 1836 and is the borough’s oldest park. Today, the Commodore Barry Park Pool sits just west of North Elliott Place.

World War II was the largest military conflict in history. An estimated 70 million people died worldwide. Beginning with the rise of Hitler in Germany, the world plunged into war, just twenty years after the First World War. The United States was slow to join the conflict directly, finally declaring war on the Axis Powers after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. However, prior to this formal declaration, the US government, while technically remaining neutral, sent military aid and equipment to the British through a law called the Lend-Lease Act. After Pearl Harbor, the United States directed their complete industrial and economic energy into the war effort. This approach to war, known as Total War, involved the vast majority of the American population in some form or another. The United States in general, and New York in particular, transformed during this conflict to meet the needs of the US military and its allies. As you read, consider the different ways New Yorkers stepped up to contribute to the war effort (8.6b, 11.8b) and how WWII can be considered a "Total War" (8.6b, 11.8b) For Teachers: Lesson Plan on WWII from home

Mark R. Wilson charts the history of the Brooklyn Navy Yard with the Gotham Center for New York City History.