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The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 37

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Brooklyn, New York
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37
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THE BROOKLYN. DaILY EAGLE. NEW YORK. SUNDAY. MAHCII 13.

1910. Greater South Brooklyn in Van of Borough's Development March. MAP OF THE FOURTH AVENUE SUBWAY SYSTEM. Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Borough ParK Regions Building' Up With Amazing Rapidity Jtourth Avenue Subway tniel contributing factor Industrial Growth Along the Waterfront A Sec-i eOfiOUQH PARK tion Peculiarly Adapted to Residential and Commercial Development Many ParKs and ParKways. x.i.

ft LAI- I I I thai marvelous onward march of development in which all Brooklyn is now participating, Greater South Brooklyn is in the very forefront. Exceptionally endowed by nature with advantages making both tiff BEffCH residential and commercial growth, the vast stretch of territory, extending from the lower end of the Park Slope on the north to Bath Beach on the south, and from the Upper Bay and the Narrows on the west to New Utrecht avenue on the east, is upbuilding ith a rapidity astounding even to its most enthusiastic friends. Along the waterfront of Bay Ridge great industrial plants are rearing their CHUM jr SttetoitTS I Pft I ISLOND tj St. OVOv- KEY FOUH-TRflCK LINES TWO-TRACK LINES LOCftL, STATIONS EXPRESS STATIONS aggressive walls. Far out into the waters of the Upper Bay giant piers, as sturdy and commodious as those of the famous Chelsea group in Manhattan, tire thrusting their bulkheads.

In the adjacent land basin the network of tracks composing the enormous freight terminal planned by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company is steadily out-spreading. On the magnificent Shore Drive, transformed from a winding country lane into one of the finest boulevards in all the world, mansions comparing favorably in stateliness with those which line Riverside in Manhattan, are in course of erection, while further inland, throughout the length und breadth of the entire district, the daily rasping of saws and pounding of hammers denote the construction of scores upon scores of dwelling This Picture Shows the Route of the Underground BoadWith Its Two Extensions, and the Location of the Stations. SOUTH BROOKLYN REGION Term Now Covers Much Morej Territory Than Formerly. important parks, -but it has many miles of boulevards in care of rhe Park Department, which eimimsiTibe enil Interned (t so that broad roadways, kept as pleasure drives, are be encountered everywhere. To begin with.

Fourth avenue itself, from its starting point at Atlantic and Flatbush avenues, at the center of subwlvtrafflc to all narta of all horouehs Seventy-fifth street, about two miles and a half from the end of the construction now under contract, so that express trains could be run from Staten Island when the extension to that borough is completed. Underground Work Now Shown. All prospective purchasers of property In Bay Ridge, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights and the adjacent developments are now street under care of the Park Department kn.twn as Bay Ridge Parkway, running across the region to the Shore Drive which it near the Crescent Athletic Club's country house. At. Ninety-second street is the route leading back of Fort Hamilton to Dylter Park and through that pleasure ground to C'ropsey avenue, Bath Beach and Bensonhurst.

There Is the little Bensonhurst Park on Gravesend Bay, and starting frntn It Rn Parbn.a T-nn, houses, which, if the prediction of far-sighted men is not altogether awry, will soon convert Greater South Brooklyn into one of the most populous sec-lions of this borough. Compared to Corniche Road. Those who have seen both say that the far-famed Corniche road, on the coast line of, the Riviera, between Nice and Genoa, with its out looks on the blue waters of the Mediterranean, has little to commend it as superior to the Brooklyn Shore drive, save the fact that it is more remote from city associations and is underneath the beautiful Franco-Italian sky. On aomo of the superb days which the Weather Bureau permits to rejoice Brooklynites it is worth the while of any lover of outdoor landscape to make the trip by carriage, automobile, Subway Chief Cause of Boom. While Bay Ridge, Fort Hamilton, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach, Benson Bay Ridge and Bath Beach Sections i and out on Long Island, is a parkway, ex-DiJi t3j-ij; tt i (tending a distance of nearly seven milea Rapidly Building Up in Anticipa- to Us terminus at the Narrows, where tion of Subway Connections.

I tobouohes on the Shore Drive. clos? to the terminus of Fort Hamilton Pnr(; way. The broad roadwav of Fourth avenue, one of the line boulevards of W0J'k "nder various borough which runs through Bensonhurst avnuf' whlch give earnest of burst and all the other communities embraced in Greater South Brooklvn speedy transit for tho entire and on to the Ocean Parkway, near Park- would have in the natural course of events evolved into a thriving district, The term South Brooklyn fc-nio avepue. jd parked from Atlantic avenue to ville and Midwood Manor. On Fort llam- rf 7r the hean ilton Parkway Is McKlnlev Park tne city.

With a less distance to bicycle or afoot along this famous Brook the immediate attainment of that condition is to be attributed almost ex lyn driveway and see for himself or her cover from the financial or wholesale aeventy-tnird and Seventy-fifth streets. self what a home region affords, whether clusively to the building of the Fourth avenue subway. while in the high ground between Fifth T'l? 1 ronx and Seventh avenues, and Forty-flrst and 'Tf" Part South Brooklyn ex-Fortv-rnnrth .1.. Pei ts t0 much benefit from the sub- rsMeth street, where the former city line is marked by a change in the character of the roadway. The asphalt pavement tlvre given way to macadam ana there ts one wide roadway instead of rwo narrower ones divided by plots containing grass and in some instances a few flowers and scattered trees.

The reason for the Given adequate transit facilities, it would indeed be difficult to discover the opportunity shall ever ocour or not to see what may be compared with it abroad. It is easv also to make a com me outlook which gives It Its name. parison with Manhattan Riverside drive, way and new bridge service, which It Is hoped will be in operation within a year. The building developments in many centers are extensive and Important, anil which ia not so easily seen owing to its length, and is far more' monotonous In Park Overlooking the lower Bay. At the junction of Fort Hamilton Park- character, save for the famous tomb of elastic one by the enlargement of thrj ter- ritory of the original Brooklyn in the southerly direction and the addition of a larse section to which the designation caii be correctly applied.

Originally, it was tused to designate the territory ad- Jacent to the Heights, but lying south of Ailamic avmue, extending to the Red Hoolt region and to the Gnwanus Canal. I The territory beyond the latter waterway I and stietehing along fjuwanus Bay was termed Gowauiu. Then the Greenwood region up n'-ar the great cemetery which took in ly a square mile of the territory on bordera of the city, There was no special name for the way with the Shore Drive and extending! meet'. an USre. to Fourth avenue Is the small Fort Ham somewhat neglected condition of Fourth avenue is the fact that in view of its upheaval for subway construction it was not deemed desirable to expend much money on its maintenance as a parkway until after that work was completed.

the author of "Let Us Have Peace" and the fine Soldiers Monument, overlooking the river, which, however, has no such striking beauty as our own Memorial Sol diers and Sailors Arch, which is not far region. Perhaps the most marked has been on both sides of Fifth avenue in the vicinity of the Seventies. Row after row of stores nnd apartments has gone up in Fifth avejiue, and mile after mile of houses in the cross streets The entire region is one of good pavements, ail Improvements and choice development in ilton Park, overlooking Staten Island and the Lower Bay. It is adorned with one of the old-fashioned twenty-inch Rodman guns and a pile of half-ton solid shot, which interests youthful visitors to marked degree. On the fort parade ground, when the excellent band attached to the command is there, music is rendered every Sunday morning at 9 o'clock Across the Narrows, a mile wide rmm The Beautiful Shore Drive.

"What is destined to become the finest boulevard in the entire city, with its great natural advantages and unequaled away on the Shore Drive, but nt the entrance to Prospect Park. At its southern extremity the Shore Drive connects with Fort Hamilton Parkway, the former extension of the old a region in all the greater city which would not attract home seekers in numbers almost incomprehensible to persons unacquainted with New York's peculiar conditions. The building of the Interborough system, for example, transformed the upper part of Washington Heights, in Manhattan, find that portion of the Bronx, which it taps, from near-wildernesses into communities almost as densely populated as are Harlem and the West Side. It so enhanced property values that the increase in taxable valuations iiorth of One Hundred and Thirty-fifth street would have paid for the cost of constructing the entire subway system. Now, the Fourth avenue subway, with its Fort Hamilton and Coney Island extensions, will traverse the very heart of Greater South Brooklyn.

will place within easy reach of the business districts, not only of this borough, but also of lower Manhattan, a far-flung tract of land peculiarly attractive, as has already been indicated, to home seekers. Homeseekers Come to Stay. When, then, it is considered what a miraculous transformation the build approved city tines. In what is sometimes rieacrihorl Uatr Ridge proper, along Ridge boulevard, for- merlv Second nvnnna i- Fort Hamilton, lies Fort VVadsworth on NEW MANSION ON THE SHORE DRIVE, NEAR 90TH STREET staten Island, and in the waters of the ment ot fine detached houses and some. j.i.

u.i run Hamilton, is the residences have been built Ml structure of Fort Lafayette, where a tne 01-088 streets that are opened are quantity of powder is now stored for the effects of the new impetus government use. It has been proposed to i alven t0 the region. Third avenue Is erect on this site the colossal statue 0fl rapidly Ailing up with business buildings in an tne nay Ridge- section. The un- an American Indian, which was suggested ny Hodman Wanamaker as a suitable symbol of America at the entrance to the greatest harbor in the New World Unless the powder magazine is placed else- hB re 8ite vom hard'y be a -safe one for the erection of an ex- miht he destroyed by an accidental explosion. A site oiti Governor's Island for the i.rojeeUd statue has also been proposed but against this it is argued that it would be too close to tie Bartholdl figure of Miss Liberty, on Bedlow's Island It has bee suggested lhat the Indian statue should sland on the Shore Drive just where it rounds th? curve by the Narrows, which would give it a much more commanding situation than down on Fort Lafayette and it could be seen at.

a much greater dlslnnce. It Is hoped that the Brooklyn Park Department will make an effort to secure this for the adornment of the Shore Drive and the Bay Ridge region before It is determined to place It elsewhere. ing of the Interborough wrought in the less desirable communities of Washington Heights and the Bronx, what wonder is it that, so soon as the construction of the Fourth avenue line was assured, people began advancing Iv.pon Greater South Brooklyn in bewildering numbers, and that builders are yvorking their men overtime in order to make ready habitations for the inrushing army that is certain to arrive when the tunnel is fibout to be put into operation? Other sections of Brooklyn are growing with amazing strides, but, owing 'o the fact that it will be the first section to be served with an up-to-date Vapid transit line, Greater South Brooklyn for the present, at least; appears 1g have outdistanced them all And the population which is settling there is a population of the kind that -will remain. There will be no collapse to the Greater South Brooklyn boom. In addition to the advantages conferred otj it by nature, Greater South ouiioing ot fourth avenue Is aw'attlng the construction of the subway therein.

Site for New High School. Tho site for the projected new high school for Bay Ridge, which will serve all South Brooklyn beyond the sphere nf the Manual Training High School on i.h., Park Slope, Is expected to be et Foiirtu avenue nnd Sixty-seventh street, where I' will be conveniently reached from th Bath Beach section by the car line3 In Bay Rldgo avenue and Eighty-sixth street. A high school has long been desired In that section, and its construction in the rear future is confidently Nfv public schools have been erected at many polntB whero they are convenient lv reached by the youthful population. On of the finest Is on Fort Hamilton Parkway. Np.

160. at Fifty-second street, which while It has no great, population In iti Immediate vicinity. Is convenient to several growing sections. It, takes the place of the former wooden school edifice, near Sixtieth street, which antedated consoli Upbuilding Stirred by Subway. The upbuilding of all the new terrl Urooklyn has been rendered the more attractive by artificial It is a land of parks and boulevards, a place where residents may combine! all the charms of suburban surroundings with all tha conveniences of cit life.

With what nature and man have done for it, Greater South Brooklyn' tocy in South Brooklyn, what was added to the city on this side of the East River in itM. ana became part, of greater New ork four years later, has been greatly 15 to-uay one or me most ennancing spots ot all the greater citv. Save tor the Bay Ridge waterfront and the land adjacent thereto, for certain avenues the character of which has already been determined as the mart of the local tradesman, the entire section is given over to residential purposes. Elected at Cost of $175,000 by Mis. George Weber, Widow of Dr.

A. Warn Shepnrd. piuuioieu uy tne. prospect or speedy transit to the heart of the metropolis by the subway, construction of which was begun last fall. The future has been steadily discounted by the builders in the region and much has been done to make iwo-xamuy swelling nouses JrTe-i piers Bill be pushed to completion with dominate.

greater rapidity than has marked their building heretofore. Besides proceeding with the task of establishing its freight terminal yards, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company is also improving its piers at the foot of Sixty-third and Sixty-fifth streets. Eventually the freight terminal will be by means of the railroad n'ross Hell Gate and through Queens and Brooklyn, with the New York. New Haven and Moreover, Greater South Brooklyn ia apparently to have a residential character peculiar to itself. While nothing but cosily mansions will "he erected on the Shore Drive, and while apartment.

i houses, with stores on the ground floors, will undobutedly line Third. Fourth, Fifth and New Utrecht avenues, there i8 every indication that the two-story, tno-fam- Eighth Ward section, running down to the former city line at Sixtieth street. Beyond that grew up Bay Ridge. In the old country town of New Utrecht, and still farther aw.iy th hamlet of Fort Hamilton, adjoining the government fortification of that name. Still farther down the buy beyond the Narrows, in the Town of New Utrecht, grew up Bath Beach, and between that and Fort Hamilton in later years.

Dyker Heights was developed. Along" the line of the railroad which connects Bath Beach and Its close neighbor Beniionhurat. with the heart of the-borough, sprang up various real estate developments of which Borough Park. Blythebourne. Homcwood and New Utrecht Manor are typical examples.

All this territory may now be classed as South Brooklyn, which may be held to begin where the Park Slope ends, about situation, is the pride not only of the Shore Road along the Lower Bay in front Bay Ridge region, but also of the entire i of Fort Hamilton, with Its extended borough. This is the Shore Drive, still views across to distant Jersey having been officially known as the Bay Ridge park-! clo8ed bv government several years way. and once locally designated as the aR0- whc'n defences of the harbor Shore road. From a rambling country lv.Pre increased. The upper end of the lane it has grown into a beautified drive-! Drive, where It curves around the way.

but it is less than half the width i Owl Head estate of E. W. it will assume when the work on it now 1 connected by an extension 30n under way is completed from Bay Ridge Ieel "ld- wnl-h 'as completed several avenue to the Narrows. i ago t0 avenue, affording But with its beautiful, winding route, "Blv '-cess This extension its height above the water level, the "ow ''eing continued between Sixty-views of the harbor, where the commerce slxtn Sixty-seventh streets, at the of the greatest port ot the country passes 10 1'0rf Hamilton Parkway, in and out. the outlook on the lofty i lhp.ork on this is to be completed structures of Manhattan and the bridges tne summer, making a full circuit, over the East River, the colossal statue From Prospect Park to the Narrows ZVll" 'ly Fn outlook on the lower bay with Sea Gate "venue, is a broad boule- ready fcr the thronging population expected to follow the opening of underground transit.

While the subway now in course of construction stops at Forty-third street, the two extensions of It, one to Bay Ridge and the other to Bath Beach, arc promised to be put under way, in the near future. According to present plans these are to be two two-track roadt and there is more or less talk that the assessment plan will be resorted to 1n order to secure the funds for their construction. It. is argued with much force that as the contemplated extension of the underground roa'd from Brooklyn to Staten Island will go under the bay from Bay Ridge lhat there should be a trunk line dation. On the high ground along the parkwav, near this new school, a large structure is just, being completed for the Sisters of the Adorers of the Treclous Blood.

The motto over the entrance Is "Vive Le Sang De Jesus." The structure Is officially termed a monastery, instead of a nunnery, as the former word can properly be applied to a house of retirement for women, and Is maintained by an order of cloistered nuns, who have long been established in Putnam, avenue, near Bedford avenue, at the old site of St. Francis in the Fields. They will soon remove to their njw property, which occupies the block between Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth streets, and commands an extended view from Staten Island to Coney Island Across the parkway from it a house was built a score of years ago. which was a landmark ot the region until destroyed by fire. Foundation for Splendid Ecclesiastical Structure.

Another notable construction of the Bay Ridge region Is the foundation by the Re-demptorlst Fathers of the church of Our Lady of the Perpetual Help, at Sixtieth street and Fifth avenue. The entire block, -00 by 700' feet, extending to Sixth avenue and Fifty-ninth street is covered by the structures of the Order which has been established there for eighteen year. There Is a community of about a score of priests and lay brothers In the Mission House, which cost $50,000. and nearly as many sisters who conduct a large school. The foundations and basement of what will be tho finest ecclesiastical structure In the city have been laid for an auditorium of splendid dimensions, seating 1.800.

Is in use. On the fnunriminna ihtIi Hartford Railroad Company's system. it is then proposed to transship freieht i ly dwelling houses will predominate else frnm tho Rav Dlil.a i 1 a where. Here and there, especially along i Jersoy Cit a th Pennsylvania tunnels the boulevards, detached single dwelling xmir lhe East an(, Rj nouses, interspersed witn nign-ciass Manhattan will be used for the peration apartment houses, are in the course of of passenger trains exclusively construction, but the general tendency! seem, to to deveinT, Snnth Abundance of Institutions. of four tracks, built at the city expense, to that region at least.

At present it was thought that this extension would and Sandy Hook. Atlantic Highlands and vara, which starts from the Ocean Park- ine woods of cedar in the distance, no way, near tne southern entrance nf woods of cedar in the distance, no way, Brooklyn in such a way that families i "tin institutions, educational, social wentieth street, and to extern! to One possessed of moderate incomes may there antl religious. Greater South Brooklyn is Hundredth street, stretching from the l'p-BStablish themselves under conditions at-1 wp" supplied. There are several public Per Bay over the high ground and' down tractive both to themselves and their schools in that section, and it is proposed 'he slope toward the sea in the Coney visitors, and yet under conditions which'10 90on build a high school in Bay Ridge. Island region.

It bids fair to become more comprehensive and delightful route Prospect Park, and runs four miles to I ior an outdoor excursion, on toot or on tne narrows, close to the fort from wh'-els. be imagined. While River which it takes Its name. It, extends over In addition to numerous social, civic and the center of an immense population when side Drive has much to charm the eve is developed by the extension of th go under the Narrows from Fort Hamilton, but It has been found that it would be necessary to go very deep at that, point and the grades on both sides would be heavy to return near, to the surface. Recent surveys are held to show that a route can be built at no greater expense, albeit a little longer under water, from the region of Seventy-fifth street and the Shore drive to Tompkinsville.

which Fourth avenue subwav in lhat street to i I "IT 1 'T' 1 Bav Ridge, and New Utrecht avenue r.ii, oj r- ii i 11 aj'i'ar immeasurably superior al to Bath Beach and Coney Island. mos. ha3 ot the mlm. political clubs, the fine summer home of the Crescent Athletic Club is situated in Greater South Brooklyn. Tlier(.

are also several golf clubs there, including the well-known Dyker Meadows Club. At Fort Hamilton is the United States military post, and the concerts given frequently by the band attached to the post are well worth a long journey to hear. some of the highest ground of the region, with extended views toward both bay and ocean, but these are already cut off at some points by rows of new structures, which will ultimately line Its entire length. In the main lhe construction is limited to dwellings, but on certain blocks stores have crept in. which detract from the higli-cltiss character of the boulevard.

At Seventy-fifth street there is another Region of Parkways. -Rtit ll will not put too heavy a strain on tne aurse. Already properly has so increased in value in that Bection of the borough that lots which only a short time since were difficult to sell at J30I) each, now are snapped up for Sl.ot'M and This advance means that houses of lhe i.wo-family type are purchaseable for be-lween tti.OOU and and wiih the opening of the subway another increase is, of course, expected. 1,000 New Houses in live Years. An idea of how rapidly Greater South bcr of fine homes to be found In the Manhattan waterfront driveway, but that lack is being supplied, some of the new structures comparing In the most favorable manner with the Riverside mansions.

Tin1 South Brooklyn-Bay Ridi Beach region may be dest ribed gion of parkways It has only a f'1 would serve the purpose far better than the Narrows route. So it is held that the four-track trunk line should at least be continued to the heart of Bay Ridge at cost $80,000. a noble Gothic edifice' is ex SCENE FROM RIDGE BOULEVARD AND SEVENTY-FIFTH STREET. pected to arise In the next few years which will be the most commanding structure In South Brooklyn. The Order has acquired some ot the neighboring properly In the opposite sides of Sixtieth street and of Sixth avenue for the future extension of lis work.

The recent, presentation of the Lenten play. "Pilot's Daughter." in St. Alphonsus Hall of the Church, has attracted much attention to It. New Structures in Fourth Avenue. Rpurih avenue Is seeing some new developments in edifices for public use.

A new Evangelical Lutheran Church has Brooklyn is developing as a residential! center may be had from the statement I iht during the past year one builder alone erected forty two-family dwelling houses and apartment houses in one parti nf the Bay Ridge district, while during the last Ave years, foreseeing the coming of new transit facilities, the same man constructed about 41.10 residential build- ings in the same locality. During the same period other builders erected in that immediate vicinity at least 5w dwelling and apartment houses, mait- I ing a total of approximately l.noii build-! Ings of a residential type that have gono up in one part of Bay Ridge alone. I Fort Hamilton, Dyker Heights, Bath! Beach, and all the residential develop-' ment. communities in Greater South' Brooklyn have similar stories to tell' ntorles of a boom far beyond the expecta- rions of even the most optimistic forecasters. In the industrial direction, the Bush Terminal Company is steadily continuing the upbuilding of its giant plant on the waterfront, while other business men, awakening to the remarkable iuvulved in the Bay Ridge wuter-RoaL are securing sites and beginning trse erection of industrial plants of various types.

New Market Place. Adjoining the terminal of the Thirty-! ninth street ferry the city is constructing market place designed to be one of the finest in all the city. Work on this improvement, which during the former administration dragged for some mysterious reason, will, it is reported, be renewed with energy in the near future. I It is just to the north of the market i place that the new piers, alreadv re- ferred to. are building.

What has" been true of the market place has. in a meas-1 in, been true of them, but. now that I th city knows where it stands financially, there is eveipr Indication that the just been completed between Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth streets, with a lofty spire. I fr the congregation of St. of which the Rev.

II. c. A. Meyer is pastor. It.

Ib a near neighbor of the South Reformed Church, which was founded in 1S38. and near it, on the other side of the I street, is the Evangelical Lutheran I Church of the Incarnation, under the pastor care of the Rev. W. Steln- bicker, while a Scandinavian mission Is in the vicinity. Tho Norwegian Hospital, under the care of Lutheran deaoon esses, is In Hint neighborhood.

At Forty-fourth street and Fourth aventt. St. Michael Roman Catholic Church hftj erected a fine new school building, to aj commodate over 2.000 children. It Is near the fino new edifice of St. Michael's Church.

One of the striking church edifices in Bay Ridge Is the Grace M. B. Church, nt Fourth avenue and Sixty-seventh street. It Is built of a beautiful green stone, used in no othor edifice In this borough if In the entire city. There is a Methodist church in New Rochello built of the same stone, and it is used for houses to a considerable extent in Chicago.

On the Bath Beach Boute. Along the line of the proposed Bath Reach and Coney Island subway. In New Utrecht avenue, where the elevated trains now run on the surface, there has been built up many centers of homes, which ate feeling the benefit of the prospect ot the subway construction. These Includo Linden Heights, Borough Park Heights. Borough Park, Blythebourne.

Homewood. New Utrecht Manor, Van Pelt Manor, Looking Toward New York Bay and the Shoie Drive, Showing Fine Besidenc.es..

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About The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Archive

Pages Available:
1,426,564
Years Available:
1841-1963