History

When Brooklyn was still largely unmapped, the slopes of this area of the Dutch Breuklyn became the site of some landmark battles in the Revolutionary War, where General Washington held the colonists’ front in the historic Battle of Brooklyn. As the colony developed, waterfronts became highly desirable areas for the development of industry, facilitating the import and export of goods. Gowanus Bay in particular was attractive because it enabled goods to be brought further inland than the shores of the East River. The slopes that would known as Park Slope continued to be farmland.

By 1819, there was enough traffic of people, horses, buggies and other vehicles for a street grid to be laid down on top of the old farm lines that crisscrossed Brooklyn. Most streets remained unpaved. In 1839, Fourth Avenue was established as a much narrower 70-ft street from its beginning at Flatbush and extending to Carroll Street. It widened by 10 ft to an 80-ft arterial from Middle Street to the New Utrecht Line, which was considered the outer boundary of the City of Brooklyn.

In 1840, the Gowanus Canal was widened and the population around the canal grew enormously as a result. The increase of population and industry created the need to increase space to accommodate the “to-ing and fro-ing”. In 1848, the 9th Avenue Street Bridge across the Gowanus Canal was made “open and free” to the public. Perhaps for this reason 9th St was always slightly wider than its sister streets, standing at 65-ft across when all other streets in the grid remained at 60-ft across. It was also one of the few streets in this area that was paved, which meant that it was more desired by those with cargo in tow.

By 1861 Fourth Avenue was enlarged significantly to 155ft across from Atlantic Avenue to the City line. The saving grace of this widening was a median that was kept wide, green and dignified.

As streets became more central in a burgeoning city’s ability to grow and support its population, the City of Brooklyn passed legislation in 1862 which decreed that ““All streets and avenues which have been or may be thrown out to public use and have been or may be used as such for five years continuously shall be deemed and taken to be public streets and avenue.” The streets were no longer within the purview of property owners who, through dint of community camaraderie and service, would open them up for public travel. Streets became public domain, and with that, were now in the hands of the government who could fashion them which ever way they wished.

In 1862 a street trolley took people from the Hamilton Ferry in Red Hook through Gowanus and up to Prospect Park, all the way to the attractions to be found on Coney Island. The one way trip was about eleven miles in all for the total cost of 11 cents per adult. Ninth Street at this time also had very wide sidewalks, 20 feet on both sides, which were actually taken from the properties, not from the street. Those sidewalk widths were considered the “courtyards” of the properties facing 9th St and still exist today.

In 1883 the Brooklyn Bridge opened, which created traffic from downtown Brooklyn along the Avenues. In the mid- to late 1800’s it became fashionable for wealthy Brooklynites to make Park Slope their home, coinciding with the growing popularity of Prospect Park. The first mansions of Park Slope were built on 9th Street (one of which continues to stand today, the boarded up William B. Cronyn residence at 271 9th St between 4th Avenue and 5th Avenue.)

By 1891, the build out of public works and infrastructure were crowning achievements that cities used to demonstrate their status in the world. The City of Brooklyn produced a “Map Showing Improved Pavements in the City of Brooklyn” which promoted its achievement of 38 more miles of paved road than New York City. Public water pipes and sewers went hand in hand with new paved roads and were often located underneath the new pavements.

In the early 1900s, the subway network was developed and Fifth Avenue had an elevated train. As the subway network extended away from the city, people started moving away from Park Slope though industry stayed in the Gowanus neighborhood. More streets were paved and open to the public. Park Slope’s population experienced a decline after World War II, when many wealthy residents moved out of Park Slope for the suburbs. In the 1950s the street trolleys were taken off the roads and buses were added. In the late 1960s and 1970s, other New Yorkers came to recognize the architectural value of the housing in Park Slope and started to repopulate the neighborhood and so the story starts again, with Park Slope now one of the most desirable and expensive neighborhoods to live in, and Gowanus experiencing a renaissance of its own with new residential conversions and businesses.