Established as a Dutch farming village in 1652, Vlacke Bos, meaning “flat woodland” in Dutch, was later Anglicized to Flatbush. Around the time that it became part of the city of Brooklyn in 1894, Flatbush began its transformation into a residential suburb. Real estate development in Flatbush was spurred in large part by the arrival in 1878 of the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railroad (now the Brighton Beach line) and the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883. These infrastructure advances made it possible for residents to commute to downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan for work. Flatbush was subdivided into several neighborhoods with distinct names at the turn of the 20th century. These residential enclaves were developed between the 1890s and 1920, with house prices ranging from roughly $3,000 to $13,000. The most elite was Prospect Park South, which was established by developer Dean Alvord. Alvord envisioned a “garden within the city,” eschewing the rowhouse trend that was popular throughout Brooklyn. To ensure this aesthetic was achieved, the infrastructure and landscaping were laid out prior to the sale of the lots. Alvord required that fences and plantings not extend beyond the house lines in order to create a unified sweep of front yards. The streets were given British names, such as Buckingham and Westminster, to further evoke the country ideal that had its roots in the English country house and that was experiencing a surge in popularity throughout America. Instead of street signs, Alvord installed masonry gateposts engraved with the street names. Today, Victorian Flatbush is comprised of 11 neighborhoods that were all developed with the suburban country aesthetic as inspiration, which is still evident in the layout of the streetscapes with their yards, freestanding homes, and in some places planted street medians. While the houses were all constructed around the same time, their ornamental details were carefully selected to distinguish each from the other. Today this group of neighborhoods makes up one of the largest collections of Victorian-era wood-frame residential architecture in the country, though only roughly half are legally protected by the city as historic landmarks. The area’s five historic districts are Albemarle-Kenmore Terraces, Prospect Park South, Ditmas Park, Midwood Park and Fiske Terrace. Due to the neighborhoods’ common attributes and shared sense of place, local residents and advocates are keen to “complete the quilt” of historic district designation and include Caton Park, Beverley Square West, Beverley Square East, Ditmas Park West, West Midwood and South Midwood. Hidden within this tapestry of grand turn-of-the-century homes are glimpses of Flatbush’s more distant past. At the northern end is the Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church, which has its roots in the earliest settlement of the area, and at the southern end stands a farmhouse dating to before the Civil War, when Flatbush was still farmland. These reminders of 18th- and 19th-century Flatbush lend the neighborhood a rich and multi-dimensional context to an otherwise largely monochrome landscape.

A collection of schools across New York City.

Since the Public Buildings Inventory was published in 1977, the Conservancy has worked to preserve and highlight the buildings in it in numerous ways. Here are some examples. You can view the Public Buildings Inventory Index here.

In the closing decades of the 19th century, New York underwent a profound physical and cultural transformation. Fueled by the wealth of the exploding financial and manufacturing sectors, the city rapidly evolved into a world-class metropolis. The bold ambitions of civic and business leaders, architects, and engineers of the era manifested in landmarks such as the vast Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the stately U.S. Custom House, the towering Municipal Building, and the original terminus of New York City’s first official subway line—the ornate City Hall stop. The sweeping interior spaces common to all of these structures, and hundreds of others, depended upon a venerable Mediterranean building technology adapted to contemporary American construction: arched tile ceilings—or vaults—that were not only self-supporting but could also bear the weight of floors or roofs above them. These vaults were designed and built by a single New York firm, founded by Spanish immigrant Rafael Guastavino (1842-1908) and later headed by his son Rafael Jr. (1872-1950). The Guastavinos’ patented system for building domes and vaults involved multiple layers of thin ceramic tiles bonded with quick-drying mortar. The resulting structures were not only exceptionally strong, but also lightweight, easy to build, and inherently beautiful, thanks to intricate patterns of exposed tile that formed finished, decorative surfaces. Guastavino vaults figured prominently in more than 1,000 projects across the nation, including 200 in Manhattan alone. During its 73-year history, the Guastavino Company helped build some of the most impressive interior spaces in America—veritable palaces for the people. This list based on MCNY's exhibition Palaces for the People, contains many of Guastavino's masterpieces in the five boroughs, both those that remain and those that have been lost to the wrecking ball.

In celebration of the Municipal Art Society's 125th Anniversary, we've compiled a list of landmarks older than MAS.

Summer is coming to an end... it's time to hit the books! Take a look at these photographs of kids in the past doing just that.

Erasmus Hall High School 899 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn 1904 Founded in 1786 as a private academy, Erasmus Hall High School became the first secondary school chartered by the State of New York and earned the nickname “mother of high schools.” With the rapid growth of Brooklyn’s population at the turn of the 20th Century, the need for a larger school was met by C.B.J Snyder’s design to build a series of Collegiate Gothic style buildings surrounding the original Federal style building to form a quadrangle. These new buildings were built in phases as needed so that classes could continue uninterrupted in the older building. Both the Federal and Gothic buildings were landmarked by the City in 1966, and the original Academy building was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Since 2010, the Landmarks Conservancy, in cooperation with the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President, has been an active advocate for the preservation and revitalization of the original Academy building. Notable alumni include Mae West, Barbara Stanwyck, Neil Diamond, Bobby Fischer, and Barbra Streisand.

C.B.J. Snyder was an architect and mechanical engineer who served as Superintendent of School Buildings for the New York City Board of Education between 1891 and 1923. During his tenure he was responsible for the design and construction of more than 350 elementary, middle, and high schools in the five boroughs. Snyder is know for innovating the design and construction process. The resulting schools have been praised for their high quality, longevity, and architectural beauty. Snyder worked in a number of styles, favoring Beaux Arts, English Collegiate Gothic, and Renaissance Revival. Another feature of his buildings were their mid-block location, preferring to keep these places of education away from the busy, noisy, and (perceived) pollution of the avenues. He believed that schools were civic monuments that were necessary for a better society and he focused on health and safety issues, improving the fire protection, ventilation, lighting, and classroom size.

Erasmus Hall High School, entrance, 1928. Across the Street from the Reformed Church of Flatbush's churchyard, between Flatbush, Bedford, Church, and Snyder Avenues, was Flatbush's prime educational institution, Erasmus Hall Academy, built in 1787. The school was the direct successor of the first public school in New Netherland dating from 1658, as explained on a plaque next to the entrance. The Livingstons and Vanderbilts led the effort to establish it as the first chartered secondary school in the state, with cross-cultural support from prominent citizens like Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, who himself had married into the prominent Dutch Schuyler family. With a rigorous classical curriculum, the academy not only provided a strong foundation for the professional advancement of Flatbush's sons, but also attracted pupils from across the region and the Anglo-Dutch indies. The original academy structure survives- a hidden and neglected historic gem embedded within the courtyard of the giant Erasmus Hall High School, a Collegiate Gothic-style structure begun in 1905. This public school replaced the academy and produced such famous alumni as Neil Diamond, Bernard Malamud, Beverly Sills, and Barbra Streisand.

Erasmus Hall Academy was founded in 1786 and was the first secondary school chartered by the New York State Regents. The land on which the clapboard structure was constructed was donated to the school by the nearby Flatbush Reformed Dutch Church. Originally a private boys school, it opened in 1787 with only 26 pupils. The school began admitting female students in 1801. In 1896 after decades of falling enrollment due to competition from the City of Brooklyn public schools, the trustees of Erasmus voted to donate the building to the public school system. After this donation and the consolidation of NYC two years later, enrollment boomed and a larger space was needed. In 1904, C. B. J. Snyder, the New York City Superintendent of School Buildings, presented plans to build a large Gothic style building. Called Erasmus Hall High School, it was built in four phases between 1905 and 1940. The original wood-frame building remains in the center of the newer building, and can be seen through the gates under the main tower on Flatbush Avenue.

Each month the Landmarks Conservancy celebrates New York City’s extraordinarily rich architectural heritage by featuring a different building style or function. So, in September, as the new academic year begins, we’ll explore New York’s historic public schools designed by the prolific architect C.B.J. Snyder. With more than 1,500 schools and 1.1 million students, the New York City Board of Education is the nation’s largest public school system and one of the oldest. Snyder served as Superintendent of School Buildings for the Board of Education between 1891 and 1923. As Superintendent, he is credited with the design of more than 400 structural projects — including more than 140 elementary schools. Snyder worked in several styles, including Beaux-Arts, English Collegiate Gothic, Jacobean, and Dutch Colonial. He preferred mid-block locations away from busy and polluted avenues. One of his signature motifs was to design spaces for learning that would offer a respite from noisy streets and poverty.

With the closure of restaurants, bars, movie theaters, libraries, and schools as a precaution to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, many New Yorkers are likely feeling a bit cooped up by now. While you can't visit your favorite spots in person, you can visit them through this City Story.