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  History of Brooklyn, New York, USA

Journey back in time to Brooklyn, New York, USA

(Flatlands) (Flatbush) (Coney Island)

Visit Brooklyn, New York, USA. Discover its history. Learn about the people who lived there through stories, old newspaper articles, pictures, postcards and genealogy.

     

• 
  View from Cowanus Heights, Brooklyn
  American Scenery,
  by N.P. Willis, Illustrated by William Henry Bartlett, 1840
  Artwork
  
• 1845 - January 1 - The Cobble Hill Tunnel in Brooklyn is completed
  
  historyorb.com
  
  
• 1854 - Brooklyn
  Brooklyn, a city, seaport, and seat of justice of King's county, New York, at the western extremity of Long island, 146 miles S. from Albany, and...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1859
  BROOKLYN, the cap. of King's co., in the state of New York, U.S., 146 m. S of Albany, and 227 m. from Washington, in N lat. 40 41 50, W long 73 59...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1868 - Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, N. Y., has 1,700 members; the First Church of Oberlin, Ohio, has 1,400 members -
  the two largest Congregational churches in the country.
  St Joseph Herald
  Saint Joseph, Michigan
  July 25, 1868
  
  
•  1869 - Laura Cresswell, a teacher in one of the Brooklyn public schools, was burned to death the other night, by the explosion of a kerosene lamp.
  
  
  St Joseph Herald
  Saint Joseph, Michigan
  July 3, 1869
  
  
•  1870 - January 3 - Construction begins on Brooklyn Bridge in New York; completed May 24, 1883
  
  historyorb.com
  January 3, 1870
  
  
•  1876 - THE HOLOCAUST. The Story as it Stood at Two O'clock This Afternoon. AN UNPRECEDENTED HORROR. EVERY HOUR ADDING TO THE LIST OF THE DEAD. THE CALAMITY NOT YET MEASURED.
  A Hundred Bodies Recovered from the Ruins and a Hundred More Visible.
  GENERAL FEATURES OF THE DISASTER.
  
  Every hour since the fire in the theatre...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 
  Cystogen-Lithia Efferevescent Tablets
  
  Cystogen Chemical Company
  Brooklyn, New York
  The Way It Was Museum, Virginia City, Nevada
  
•  1882 - KINGS COUNTY ASYLUM FIRE. TWO INMATES PERISH.
  Flatbush, N. Y., Feb. 21. - The east wing of the Kings County Insane Asylum, at Flatbush, New York, was burned yesterday morning, and two of the...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1883 - May 30 - Rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge is going to collapse caused a stampede that kills 12
  AGONIZING !!!!!
  Details of the Disaster on the Bridge.
  Men and Women Crushed and Trampled to Death in the Blockade at New York Anchorage.
  
  THE...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1883 - Brooklyn Bridge opens
  
  
  
•  1884 - A SHOCK OF EARTHQUAKE Felt Over a Large Region – A Vibratory Motion from Washington to Maine
  ...The policemen on the Brooklyn bridge report that the shock was distinctly felt there, and the great towers at either end oscillated visibly, while ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1884 - MEETING WITH A CRASH. PROBABLE FATAL COLLISION ON THE CONEY ISLAND RAILROAD.
  Brooklyn, July 15. - A collision occurred on the Brooklyn Bath and Coney Island railroad, near Greenwood cemetery, yesterday afternoon, by which...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1888 - America for Americans
  BROOKLYN, N. Y., Nov. 24 - "Deacon" Richardson has given notice that hereafter only American citizens, native or naturalized, will be employed on his ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1895 - Brooklyn
  Brooklyn, a city, seaport, and capital of Kings co, N.Y., at the W. and S.W. ends of Long Island, 146 miles S. of Albany, and 235 miles by rail N.E....Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1897 - BRAVE POLICEMAN FARRELL Saves Lives of Passengers of a Brighton Beach Train at Risk of His Own. THWARTS TRAIN WRECKERS
  Catches Five Boys Wedging Stones in an Opened Switch - Hampered by Two Prisoners, He Works as the Train Approached.
  
  Policeman FARRELL of the...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1898 - The Greatest Suspension Bridge in the world
  is the Brooklyn Bridge, which also leads the world in the number of its daily passengers. Its length, including approaches is 5989 feet, the distance ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1898 - January 1 - Brooklyn merges with NY to form present City of NY
  
  historyorb.com
  
  
• 
  Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, New York
  Postcard
  
• 
  Hotel Margaret, Brooklyn, New York
  Postcard
  
• 
  The Cables, Brooklyn Bridge, New York
  Postcard
  
• 1903 - December 19 - Williamsburg suspension bridge opens between Brooklyn & Manhattan
  
  historyorb.com
  
  
•  1904 - BOY CRUSHED UNDER CAR.
  Pinioned under the forward truck of a trolley car in Wyckoff avenue, near Temple avenue, Brooklyn, last night, George Schroeder, eight years old of...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1904 - DEATH IN ELEVATED WRECK
  Three Fatalities and Many Injured in Brooklyn Collision.
  
  Electric Train, Crowded with Passengers, Crashes Into Rear End of Stalled Locomotive and...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1904 - IMPALED ON WAGON SHAFT.
  James Jones of No. 76 Oakland street, Brooklyn, was impaled yesterday afternoon on the shaft of an express wagon while he was riding on the running...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 
  Old Dutch Reform Church, Flatbush & Church Aves.
  Postcard
  
• 
  Wallabout Market
  Postcard
  
• 
  Shooting the Chutes, Coney Island, 1907
  Postcard
  
• 
  Crowds on Beach at Half Moon Hotel, Coney Island, N.Y.
  Postcard
  
• 
  Museum of Art
  Postcard
  
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  Post Office
  Postcard
  
• 
  View of Manhattan Ave., Greenpoint, 1912
  Postcard
  
• 
  23rd Regiment Armory
  Postcard
  
• 
  Coney Island Theatre Building
  Surf and Stillwell Aves.
  Coney Island, N.Y.
  Postcard
  
•  On October 16, 1916 Sanger opened a family planning and birth control clinic at 46 Amboy Street in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, the first of its kind in the United States.
  Margaret Sanger tests the validity of New York’s anti-contraception law by establishing a clinic in Brooklyn. The most well-known of birth control...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1916
  Brooklyn, a former city of Kings co., N.Y., since Jan. 1, 1898, a borough of the city of New York, situated at the W. end of Long Island. Lat. of the ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1918 - November 1 - 102 die in a NYC BMT subway derailment at Malbone Street Brooklyn
  
  historyorb.com
  November 1, 1918
  
  
• 
  Prospect Theatre, 9th St. and 5th Ave., Flatbush, Brooklyn, N.Y.
  Postcard
  
•  1922 - BROOKLYN FACTORY FIRE TRAPS SCORES.
  ONE MAN KILLED AND MANY SUFFER INJURIES.
  GIRLS LEAP FROM FLAMES.
  WOMEN IN LOFT SECTION CAUGHT WITH OUT WARNING AS FLAMES SPREAD THROUGH...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 
  Sunset Park, Bay Bridge, 1935
  Postcard
  
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  Borough Hall
  Postcard
  
• 
  American Thermos Bottle Company of New York
  museumofcthistory.org
  Advertisement
  
•  1944 - HURRICANE HITS NEW YORK AND NEW ENGLAND COASTS. HIGH WINDS LASH JERSEY, LONG ISLAND.
  ... In Brooklyn, JOSEPH LAUZON, 55, street car motorman, was electrocuted when he stepped from his car and onto a live wire pulled down by a tree...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 
  C. W. V. Model Gift Home of 1952
  Bay 8th St. and Cropsey Ave.
  Brooklyn, N.Y.
  FREE - Public Inspection - FREE
  Daily 2:00 to 10:30 P.M.
  Advertisement
  
• 1955 - Brooklyn Dodgers won World Series