Brooklyn Historical Society was founded in 1863 as the Long Island Historical Society (LIHS) during a time of tumultuous change. In only a few decades, Brooklyn had grown from a tiny agricultural backwater to the third largest city in the country. Civic pride was at an all-time high. Many of Brooklyn’s citizens believed they needed to commemorate their city’s rural past before it quickly faded from memory.

The founders of the LIHS were among the city’s most prominent citizens, whose families could trace their Brooklyn roots back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They established the society as a library committed to preserving the history of America, New York state, and, most important, “the counties, towns, and villages of Long Island.”

Founders also envisioned the LIHS as a center for dialogue about history. In the nineteenth century, the society’s roster of speakers included newspaper editor and reformer Horace Greeley, writer Arthur Conan Doyle, and abolitionist and women’s rights activist Julia Ward Howe. Its membership included a number of women (usually wealthy), but no people of color.

Initially, the LIHS occupied several rooms on Court Street. The institution grew quickly, and its leaders planned to move the society into its own building. In 1868, they acquired land on the corner of Pierrepont and Clinton Streets in present-day Brooklyn Heights, but the Depression of 1873 stalled construction plans.

Financially recovered by 1878, the society held a contest and selected renowned architect George Browne Post to design its headquarters. Opened in 1881, the Queen Anne–style building is notable for its bright terra-cotta facade, intricate brickwork, and myriad decorative details. It also features an innovative truss system that supports the ceiling of the central reading room.

In 1985, the Long Island Historical Society changed its name to the Brooklyn Historical Society.