Fiske Terrace -Midwood Park Historic District

Largely consisting of detached single-family properties, the historic district encompasses the visually similar neighborhoods of Fiske Terrace and Midwood Park. Located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn and roughly separated north and south by Glenwood Road, these suburban neighborhoods offer a country respite in the midst of New York City, with stately Queen Anne, Shingle, Colonial Revival, and Arts and Crafts houses surrounded by verdant lawns. Many of the houses built in the district were characteristic of suburban residences constructed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, but despite certain aesthetic similarities, the two neighborhoods are distinct in their construction.

Fiske Terrace, located in the southern section of the district, takes its name from the oil merchant, George P. Fiske, who purchased the land in the late nineteenth century. In 1905, the Fiske family sold the land to the T.B. Ackerson Company, which transformed the area, constructing forty residential houses, made to a uniform standard, within a few months. The ten additional houses in the area, constructed from 1905-1907, were built by local developer Charles F. Bond.

Located in the northern section of the district, Midwood Park was originally part of the John A. Lott farm. In 1898, the land was sold to Germania Real Estate and Improvement Company, and in 1903, the John R. Corbin Company began building houses in the area. The houses built in this section of the district were prefabricated. Created using mass-production techniques, every individual piece needed to construct the residences were pre-made in a factory, and then shipped and assembled on site, according to individual specifications.

Today, the Fiske Terrace-Midwood Park Historic District remains the quiet residential refuge it was designed to be. Overall, the neighborhoods have not been subject to many inappropriate alterations, and subsequently the area retains its distinctive character. ©2014