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Fort Greene Architecture
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.
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16 stops•3.9km•49 min
Fort Greene Park
The Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument commemorated the 11,500 prisoners of war who perished during the Revolutionary War.
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29-37 South Portland Avenue
This Fort Greene block includes a representative selection of residential architectural styles from the latter 19th century.
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209 Washington Park
Italianate brownstones along the eastern side of Fort Greene Park.
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Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church
This Romanesque Revival church was designed by William A. Mundell in 1869.
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Queen of All Saints Church
Gothic Revival facade of the Queen of All Saints Church, completed in 1913.
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Joseph Steele House
When this wooden Greek Revival home was built around 1850, its rooftop cupola would have offered sweeping views of Brooklyn Heights, New York Harbor, and Wallabout Bay.
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Brooklyn Masonic Temple
Check out the full color terra cotta ornamentation of the Brooklyn Masonic Temple facade.
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Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School
The site of this Catholic high school was originally intended for the construction of a massive cathedral.
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Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church
Brooklyn Presbyterians of the Civil War Era flocked to this church to hear the sermons of abolitionist pastor Theodore L. Cuyler.
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Hanson Baptist Church
The Baptist hymn "Hanson Place" takes its name from this 1850s church.
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87 South Elliott Place
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Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower
The Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower under construction, 1929.
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Hanson Place Methodist Episcopal Church
Immediately next door to the Williamsburgh Bank Savings Tower, this Methodist Church was condemned in 1929, after subway construction damaged its foundation.
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Paramount Theatre
Now home to a Long Island University gymnasium, the interior of this building retains much of its original decorative detail.
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Walt Whitman Branch, Brooklyn Public Library
This Brooklyn Public Library branch — named for Wallabout resident Walt Whitman — was one of few buildings to avoid demolition ahead of the construction of the NYCHA Fort Greene Houses.
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Church of St. Michael and St. Edward
The church of St. Michael and St. Edward, long a sanctuary for the area's working class Catholic communities was also spared from mid-1940s demolition.
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