Prospect Park South

Prospect Park South Historic District

John S. Eakins House (1905) at 1306 Albemarle Road
Location Roughly bounded by BMT Brighton Line, Beverley Rd., and Coney Island and Church Aves.
Brooklyn, New York City
Coordinates Coordinates: 40°38′46″N 73°58′02″W / 40.646111°N 73.967222°W / 40.646111; -73.967222
Area 47 acres (19 ha)
Built 1899 (1899)
Architectural style multiple
NRHP Reference # 83001699[1]
Added to NRHP July 21, 1983
Gatepost at Church Avenue & Buckingham Road. Gateposts such as this mark many of the entrances to streets in the historic district.

Prospect Park South is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bordered by Prospect Park and the Prospect Park Parade Ground to the north, Ocean Avenue and the BMT Brighton Line subway tracks to the east, Beverley Road to the south, and Coney Island Avenue to the west.[2]

Within the neighborhood, and comprising most of its area, is the Prospect Park South Historic District, designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1979[3] and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[1] The historic district is bounded by Church Avenue to the north, the BMT Brighton Line (B Q trains) of the New York City Subway to the east, Beverley Road to the south, and between Stratford Road and Coney Island Avenue to the west.[4]

Prospect Park South, along with Flatbush and other neighborhoods within Flatbush, is policed by the 70th Precinct of the New York City Police Department.[5]

History

In 1899 developer Dean Alvord purchased about 60 acres (24 ha) of farmland in order to create Prospect Park South, a community of substantial homes, a "rural park within the limitations of the conventional city block and city street."[3] Alvord characterized the development as rus in urbe, the country in the city.[6][7] The location was selected to take advantage of the train service on the Brooklyn and Brighton Beach Railroad of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT). The line, now known as the BMT Brighton Line, offered express and local train service that remains to this day. The trains emerged at Fulton Street as an elevated line and continued across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan.[8]

Once he had purchased the land, Alvord laid out all the necessary utilities and marked the entrance of most streets with brick piers with cast concrete plaques bearing the bas-relief inscription "PPS". He also hired John Aitkin, a Scottish landscape gardener, to supervise the plantings for the lawns and malls, with meticulous attention given to details. Trees, for instance, were not planted only along the curb line, but also at the building line as well, to give the streets greater breadth of vision, to block out adjoining houses, and provide the illusion that each house was the only one on the block. Both Norway maples and Carolina poplars were used: the poplars for immediate shade, and the slower-growing maples for long-term shade. Alvord did all this before selling a single plot.[3][7]

Alvord also hired architect John J. Petit and a staff to design the houses in the development, although clients could also provide their own architect if they preferred to. Petit ended up designing many of the houses in the development, in a wide variety of styles, including Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival and Queen Anne.[3][7] The houses in Prospect Park South were required to be substantial, freestanding homes exceeding 3,500 square feet (325 m2) and costing over US$5,000. Several other restrictions were also placed upon builders wishing to develop the lots.[9]

While not the first attempt at suburban development in the area, Alvord's vision excited the interest of the wealthy of Brooklyn Heights and Manhattan residents. Ultimately, Alvord's restrictions not only created an exciting new design but a standard to become a blueprint for the modern suburb. Enthusiasm for his design in following years would see South Midwood, Fiske Terrace, Ditmas Park, the Beverley Squares, and many more developments spring up in the surrounding area to accommodate the demand, together forming what is now known as Victorian Flatbush.

In 1972, New York's Albanian community established a mosque at 1325 Albemarle Road.[10]

Prospect Park South was designated as a historic district by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1979.

Notable houses

The Alvord Mansion at 1522 Albemarle Road was built by Alvord for his family. Later, it was purchased by Israel Matz, founder of the Ex-lax Company. The Alvord Mansion burned down c.1955 under mysterious conditions after its sale by the Matz family to apartment developers fell through in the face of community opposition.

Among the other notable houses in the neighborhood are:

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ "New York Times Real Estate Search map"
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S. (text); Postal, Matthew A. (text) (2009), Postal, Matthew A., ed., Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.), New York: John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1, pp.263-64
  4. ↑ New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission "Prospect Park South Historic District Map"
  5. ↑ 70th Precinct, NYPD.
  6. ↑ Gunnison, pp.86-92
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010), AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195383867, p.713-715
  8. ↑ Gunnison, pp.21-23
  9. ↑ Garvin, Alexander. The American City: What Works, What Doesn't (McGraw-Hill Professional, 2002) pp. 308-310
  10. ↑ Staff (November 13, 1972). "Albanians Open a Mosque Here". The New York Times.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 New York City Landmark Preservation Commission "Prospect Park South Historic District Designation Report" (February 8, 1979)
  12. ↑ White, Norval and Willensky, Elliot. AIA Guide to New York City (3rd ed.), pp.698-700

Bibliography

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