Wallabout Historic District

The Wallabout Historic District is an architecturally noteworthy assemblage of approximately fifty-five antebellum buildings. Many of the structures are wood-frame houses erected in the early to mid-nineteenth century. The overall effect is of a unified and highly memorable streetscape.

The word Wallabout derives from “Waal-bogt,” which was the name given to this portion of Brooklyn's East River waterfront by Walloons, who settled the area in 1624. Despite its proximity to Manhattan and to Brooklyn proper, the area retained a rural character throughout much of the eighteenth century. Residential development began in the early nineteenth century, and accelerated with the expansion of the Brooklyn Navy Yard on the bay in the middle of the century. The curious wooden construction of the buildings can be explained by real estate values. The flat land facing the river was less desirable than the upland areas, and subsequently wooden houses were constructed, rather than the more expensive brick and stone structures that characterized the adjacent Fort Greene and Clinton Hill areas. Many of the modest houses were built for single families. Vanderbilt Avenue in particular retains a significant number of houses that were erected in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, most appearing on the 1855 Perris fire insurance maps.

A variety of designs and styles appear in the district. The first houses to be constructed feature elements of Greek Revival style, while those dating from the mid-nineteenth century display styling more typical of the Italianate and Gothic Revival. Additionally, there is a row of neo-Grec brownstones, erected in 1878 on speculation by the Pratt family, and believed to be the first such venture by them. Overall, the buildings of the district retain a great deal of material authenticity and evoke an important historical moment in the development of Brooklyn. ©2014