Brooklyn Academy of Music Historic District

Formerly a thirty-acre farm owned by John Jackson, the land in this district was sold and residential development began in the mid-nineteenth century. Many of the surviving row houses in this neighborhood were built between 1855 and 1859 by local architects. Primarily three- or four-story brick and brownstone houses, they were built on speculation for the large number of people who were then relocating to Brooklyn. The majority of the houses exhibit a modified Italianate style, while a few of the houses, built during the 1870s, incorporate neo-Grec detail and have cast-iron facades, a rarity in residential architecture.

Change did not come to the area for almost fifty years after its initial development phase. In 1907, the Brooklyn Academy of Music moved to its present location at 30 Lafayette Avenue. The original Academy opened in 1861, but was destroyed by fire in 1903. The competition to design the new building was won by the firm of Herts & Tallant, which produced a large and richly detailed structure with an Italian Renaissance facade. The other large-scale addition to the district was noted architect George B. Post's 1929 Williamsburgh Savings Bank, whose 512-foot tower still dominates the Brooklyn skyline. ©2014