In 1844, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle printed the following prediction “THE CITY OF CHURCHES — such, in time, will be the distinctive appellation of Brooklyn.” In the ensuing decades, the incorporation of new houses of worship matched the pace of residential development and reflected the diverse ancestry of the immigrant communities who settled there. The buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries express the evolution of American church architecture, as dictated by the pride and prosperity of worshippers from Bushwick to Bay Ridge.

The 19th century saw Fort Greene develop from farmland held by a few families to a residential neighborhood, populated by a mix of Brooklyn’s working, merchant, and upper classes. Today, much of the neighborhood has been well preserved, including several blocks of brownstone and rowhouse architecture, churches, parkland, and civic institutions dating to the 19th century. Even in areas transformed by postwar urban renewal and commercial development traces of an earlier era remain.

The Church of St. Michael and St. Edward was built between 1891-1906 at what was then the intersection of Canton and Division Streets (later St. Edwards Street and Leo Place). The Catholic church served a predominantly Irish and working-class congregation of local residents employed at the neighborhood’s factories, waterfront, and, during wartime, Navy Yard. In 2010, the diocese of Brooklyn closed the church, following years of declining attendance.

A collection of churches across New York City from the New York Public Library.