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 east side of South Portland Avenue, just south of Fort Greene Park, 1958. The buildings on this block provide a fascinating snapshot of the architectural elements that came in and out of fashion during the latter half of the 19th century. At left is no. 29A, one of a pair of 1878 Neo-Grec brownstones by architect Charles Mushlet. At right are a row of Italianate brownstones built around 1867. In between, a 20th century apartment building with mixed brownstone, brick, and terra cotta facade and a distinctive curved, full-height swell-bay window common to more recent tenement construction.