Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/620

* BROOKLYN. 544 BROOKLYN. Mill Creek, the boroiigli being sunouiideil by water on three sides. The iiortheastcrn bound- ary is an irregular line, vliich is crossed by a broad range of low hills extending into Queens County. The elevation of this district varies from the tidewater marshes to a height of about 10.) feet at Mount Prospect. Along the shore opposite the lower point of Man- hattan is an irregular blutV rising 70 to 100 feet, known as Brooklyn Heights. The southern portion of the borough is low. The RESinEXCE Town. Brooklyn lias been called 'the Sleeping-Room of the ^Metropolis,' and again 'the City of Homes,' and "the City of C'hnrclies.' Within its broad limits there are several tenement districts; along its western shore are busy commercial and manufacturing areas, and the southern shore has a peculiar character of its own; but the main part of the borough is made uj) of hundreds of miles of ave- nues and streets lined with dwelling-houses. The residence districts thus claim first attention as the distinctive feature of the place. The oldest part iif Brooklyn is solidly built up of brick and frame houses set closely together; but even liere the long and juetty rear gardens have been a noted feature of Brooklyn. The old- est fine Brooklyn houses on the Heights are of brick and brownstone, and hotels, large apartment-houses, and several club-houses also are found here. Along Clinton and Washing- ton avenues there is a fine array of frame and brick villas, set in open grounds, with carriage- drives, trees, and Hower-beds ; and a similar dis- trict, more modern, is along Xew York, Brook- lyn, and Saint Mark's avenues. Along Eighth and Xinth avenues, in the new region close to Prospect Park, and known as the Park Slope, is another attractive residence district. In the more distant parts toward the south, which a few years ago were still rural townships, there are large sections containing pretty detached residences of a much more modest character. The electric railroad is largely responsible for this new development, which may be expected to continue until the wliole southern ])art of Brook- lyn is covered with these sul)urban homes. Be- yond the still ujilniilt lands lie the beaches along the southern shore, which occujiy an important place in Xew York summer life. See Coney Island. The Bu.siness Distihct. Xear the lower end of Fulton Street the great level of low buildings, which arc characteristic of Brooklyn, is broken by a cluster of tall strui'tures. marking one of the most compact sliojiping distric-ts in the world, a district containing both giant stores and small shops by the st^ore. ,V short distance toward the East River are the huge steel and masonry struc- tures used for banks, insurance companies, and mercantile oHices, centring around Jlunicij)al Park, where are the municipal and county build- ings, the Hall of Records, and the famous bronze statue of Henry Ward B<eclier, by .7. Q. A. Ward. On -Montague Street, which runs from Municipal Park to the river, are a number of noteworthy buildings. The Academy of Music, with a seat- ing capacity of 2300, is the largest place of anuisement in the borough ; the Art Association Building, which adjoins it, is a Gothic struc- ture of brown sandstone ornamented with colored marble; opposite is the building of the Brooklyn Library. Among other buildings on the Heights may be mentioned the Hamilton Club, in front of which is a bronze statue of Alexander Hamilton, by W. O. Partridge; the hand.some l)uilding of the Long Island Historical Society; the Church of the Holy Trinity; the Cluirch of the Pilgrims, and the famous Plymouth Church. On Washing- ton Street, west of Fulton Street, is the ])ost- otfice, a granite building of large [iroportions in Romanesque style, with numerous turrets and a high tower, but disadvantageously sitiuited on a narrow street. Adjacent is the tall olliee build- ing of the Jirookliin Daily Kinile. In this vicin- ity, also worthy of note, are the buildings of the Packer and Polytechnic institutes; somewhat more remote are the Central Y. M. C. .. and Y. W. C. .v., each of which occupies commodious and finely equi])ped quarters — a feature con- nected with the former being the well-known Association Hall, a popular concert and lecture auditoriun. In various i)arts of the city are the l)uildings of Pratt Institute; the Gernuinia and Union League clubs, the latter fronted by an equestrian statue of tien, U, S. Grant, by W. O. Partridge; the Roman Catholic cathedral, and numerous other ecclesiastical edifices; the new Xaval Branch '. M. C. A. building: armories of the Tliirtccnth and Twenty-third regiments of the Xational Guard; and several of thecharitalile institutions. On Wallabout Bay is the Xavy- Y'ard, which, built in 1S24, is now the principal naval station of the United States. It has a total area of nearly 178 acres, of which amount over 118 acres is water, and a wharfage of over a mile. There are foundries, iiiacliine-shops, etc., and two immense dry docks, 307 by !IS feet, and 40.T by 210 feet, the latter admitting the largest vessels. East of the yard are ofiicers' quarters, barracks, and parade grounds, and still farther east, across Wallabout Bay — on the ojipu- site shore of which is Wallabout Market, an im- jiortant centre of the produce trade of the bov ough — is a United States Xaval Hospital. iNTEKCOMJtrNiCATiON. A short distance be- low the post-oBice are the entrance to Brooklyn Bridge (sec Bridge) and the terminals of the elevated railroads. To this point, also, there come electric cars from every section of the bor- ough, to join the endless chain across the bridge to Manhattan. The elevated roads and all but a few surface lines are now operated by a single corporation, which ahso operates the municipal railroad across the bridge: and Brooklyn pas- sengers are now brought to Manhattan for a single .5-cent fare. The bridge has thus liecome more than formerly the [irincipal route to the outer world. Yet the other means of transpor- tation arc more crowded than before the bridge was built. There are numerous ferry lines to Manhattan and one to Jersey City; of the for- mer class, the most important are those from Atlantic and Hamilton avenues, and ^lontague and Fulton streets, to the lower end of Manhat- tan: and the lines to Roosevelt, Grand, Twenty- third, and Forty-second streets from Broadway, Broiiklyn, which connect with elevated roads and surface lines from the northern parts of Brook- lyn. A number of bridges are to be built across the East River, besides at least two tunnels un- der it. Work on a bridge from Broadway, Brooklyn, to Delancey Street, Manhattan, was begun in 1807. The Long Island Railroad, which does mainly a local pas.senger traHic to outlying towns, has its Brooklyn terminus at Flatbush