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.

"Hanson Place Methodist Episcopal Church, with scaffolding being prepared for its demolition, ca. 1929." Dating to 1873, this was the second Methodist church built on the site, where it replaced a smaller structure built in 1857. In 1927, the Hanson Place church merged with Methodist congregations from Ridgewood, Queens and nearby Fleet Street with the intention of building a new structure in a different location. The newly united congregation was forced to reconsider their plans in 1929, when the Department of Buildings ruled the Hanson Place structure unsafe for occupancy due to subway construction beneath its foundation. Ultimately, they elected to build a new church next door to the nearly-complete Williamsburgh Savings Bank. In 1931, the new, red brick Neo-Gothic Hanson Place Central United Methodist Church was completed.

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.

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