A Street Through Time: A Look Back at Flatbush Avenue in the 1920s (2024)

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in Brooklyn

byHenry Parker574 Views

It’s the roaring twenties and Flatbush Avenue is a hub of activity. The avenue is lined with shops and businesses, and the streets are filled with automobiles and streetcars. The population of the area is diverse, with immigrants from all over Europe and African Americans, and native-born residents living and working side by side.

As you walk down the avenue, you can’t help but notice the changes that have taken place since the last decade. The stores and shops are now more modern, and you can see signs for new brands and department stores. The smell of gasoline and exhaust fumes from the cars mix with the smells of food from the various restaurants and cafes.

As you continue walking, you come across the Brooklyn Museum, which is still as popular as ever. The museum has a wide collection of art and artifacts, and it’s a popular destination for residents and visitors alike. You can see a group of schoolchildren being led through the galleries by their teacher, and a couple admiring a painting in one of the galleries.

A little further down the avenue, you come across the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The garden is still a popular destination for residents and visitors alike, but the gardens have seen some changes, with new plant species, and different styles of gardens to reflect the new taste of the time.

As the day turns into evening, the avenue transforms into a hub of entertainment and leisure. Theater-goers are dressed in their flapper attire, making their way to the theaters and music venues that dot the avenue. The sound of jazz and blues music can be heard spilling out into the streets, and the dance halls are now more popular than ever. The area is also home to several major sports venues, including the Ebbets Field, where the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team plays their home games.

Flatbush Avenue in the 1920s is a vibrant and bustling street that reflects the diversity and energy of the growing city. It’s a place where people from all walks of life come together, and it’s a dynamic and exciting place to be. However, the avenue is also a place where the racial tension can be felt, as the African American community is facing discrimination, and their presence in the area is limited. Despite the challenges, the avenue has many cultural and leisure activities, and it’s a place where people can enjoy and have fun, but also a place where the changes of the society can be seen.

#1 Abbie Lott Zabriskie House, Built on the northwest corner of Flatbush Avenue and Church Avenue; shown at its third site on the northeast corner of Ocean Avenue and Church Avenue, 1923

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#2 Flatbush: Jerome Suydam House, east side of E. 56th Street between Church Avenue and Linden Boulevard, 1929

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#3 Flatlands: Hendrickson’s Corners, right, northeast corner of Flatbush Avenue and Kings Highway, 1923

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#4 Former Fleet Street Methodist Episcopal Church at 43 Fleet Street, on the southeast corner of Flatbush Avenue Extension, 1923

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#5 Flatbush: P.S. 35, north side of Church Avenue, east corner of E. 48th Avenue, Demolished by 1926, in 1923.

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#6 1754 Flatbush Avenue, Stoolhoff-Duryea House and barn, at the junction with Avenue J and E. 35th Street, 1923

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#7 Flatlands: J.B. Hendrickson and Sons store, northeast corner of Flatbush Avenue and Kings Highway, 1920s

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#8 Flatbush: Cornelius Suydam House (built 1860), E. 48th Street, east side, about 100 feet north of Tilden Avenue, 1923

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#9 J.B. Hendrickson and Sons store, northeast corner of Flatbush Avenue and Kings Highway, 1923

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#10 Judge John A. Lott House (also known as Jeremiah Lott House), 920 Flatbush Avenue , west side, opposite Erasmus Hall, 1923

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#11 Jerome Suydam House, east side of E. 56th Street between Church Avenue and Linden Boulevard, 1923

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#12 1754 Flatbush Avenue, Stoolhoff-Duryea House, at the junction with Avenue J and E. 35th Street, 1923

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#13 John Brown House (built c.1860), southside of Flatbush i.e.Flatlands Avenue between E. 40th Street and E. 41st Street, 1923

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#14 Former Fleet Street Methodist Episcopal Church at 43 Fleet Street, on the southeast corner of Flatbush Avenue Extension, 1923

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#15 C. Suydam House (built 1860), Tilden Avenue, north side, two blocks west of Utica Avenue, 1923

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#16 977 Gravesend Avenue, east side, 1923

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#17 Old store painted green, shingled, south side of Church Avenue, east of Flatbush Avenue, 1923

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#18 658 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, 1922

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#19 Peter Lott House, west side of Flatbush Avenue opposite Lott Place, between Kings Highway and Flatlands Avenue, 1922

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#20 1754 Flatbush Avenue, Stoolhoff-Duryea House, at the junction with Avenue J and E. 35th Street, 1922

#21 Jeremiah Vanderbilt House, 610 Flatbush Avenue, northwest corner of Chester Court, 1922

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#22 Judge John J. Vanderbilt House, erected 1847, 590 Flatbush Avenue, west side, 1922

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#23 John Lefferts House, Formerly located at 563 Flatbush Avenue, east side, south of Maple Street, 1923

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#24 Lionel A. Wilbur House, 684 Flatbush Avenue (built 1878), west side, opposite Winthrop Street, 1922

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#25 John Schenck House, northwest corner of Church Avenue and E. 53rd Street, Flatbush, 1922

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#26 Nicholas Brown House, 1555 Flatbush Avenue, southeast corner of Flatbush Avenue and Nostrand Avenue, 1922

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#27 Brooklyn: corner of Flatbush Avenue and Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, 1922

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#28 Judge John J. Vanderbilt House (left), 590 Flatbush Avenue, west side, 582 Flatbush (right) is a later Vanderbilt house, 1922

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#29 John Lefferts House, Formerly located at 563 Flatbush Avenue, east side, south of Maple Street; moved to Prospect Park in 1918, 1922

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#30 Adrian Martense House, 21 Chester Avenue, northwest corner of Church Avenue and Chester Avenue near E. 35th Street, rear view, 1922

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#31 Jerome Schenck House, northwest corner of Church Avenue and E. 53rd Street, 1922

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#32 Jerome Schenck House, northwest corner of Church Avenue and E. 53rd Street, 1922

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#33 Lionel Wilbur House, 684 Flatbush Avenue, west side opposite Winthrop Street, Demolished 1923, 1922

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#34 Junction of Washington Avenue, Franklin Avenue, and Sterling Avenue, 1922

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#35 658 Flatbush Avenue, wes side, opposite Hawthorne Street, Built by Judge Martense c.1850 for his eldest son; demolished by 1928, 1922

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#36 Judge Garret L. Martense House, built c. 1840, 676 Flatbush Avenue, west side, Demolished 1923, 1922

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#37 Lionel A. Wilbur House, 684 Flatbush Avenue (built 1878), west side, opposite Winthrop Street, Demolished 1923, 1922

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#38 Rear view of Lionel Wilbur House, 684 Flatbush Avenue (built 1878), west side, opposite Winthrop Street, 1922

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#39 Birdsall House, 612 Flatbush Avenue, corner of Chester Court, opposite Fenimore Street, 1922

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#40 Jerome Schenck House, northwest corner of Church Avenue and E. 53rd Street, 1922

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#41 Jerome Schenck House, northwest corner of Church Avenue and E. 56th i.e. E. 53rd Street, 1922

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#42 Peter Lott House, west side of Flatbush Avenue opposite Lott Place, between Kings Highway and Flatlands Avenue, Demolished in 1925, 1922

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#43 Canarsie Lane (now Cortelyou Road), 150 feet east of Brooklyn Avenue near E. 47 Street, 1922

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#44 Wellhouse at Lionel A. Wilbur House, 684 Flatbush Avenue, 1922

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#45 Jerome Schenck House, northwest corner of Church Avenue and E. 56th i.e. E. 53rd Street, 1922

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#46 Constructing the first pier at the foot of Flatbush Avenue, 1922

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#47 Birdsall House, 612 Flatbush Avenue, corner of Chester Court, opposite Fenimore Street, One time home of Samuel Gerritsen, 1922

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#48 Row of trees form the southerly boundary of the Vanderveer Farm; Catholic church on right, southwest corner of Nostrand Avenue and Newkirk Avenue, 1922

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#49 Halliday’s Blacksmith shop, north side of Church Avenue between Flatbush Avenue and Bedford Avenue, 1922

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#50 Wilson Reed House and Grocery (built c.1850), Kings Highway at the bend in the road east of Mill Lane and east of Flatbush Avenue, 1922

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#51 1754 Flatbush Avenue, Stoolhoff-Duryea House, at the junction with Avenue J and E. 35th Street, 1922

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#52 Simon Voorhees Grocery (built 1791); Amersfoort Hotel, owned by Walter Van Wyck; northwest corner of Flatbush Avenue and Kings Highway, 1922

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#53 John Schenck House, northwest corner of Church Avenue and E. 53rd Street, Flatbush, 1922

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#54 A.H. Hubbard House, 1632 Flatbush Avenue, west of Flatbush Avenue, north of Avenue I, 1922

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#55 1754 Flatbush Avenue, Stoolhoff-Duryea House, at the junction with Avenue J and E. 35th Street, 1922

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#56 Central House, southwest corner of Flatbush Avenue and Kings Highway, 1922

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#57 Nicholas Brown House, 1555 Flatbush Avenue, southeast corner of Flatbush Avenue and Nostrand Avenue, 1922

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#58 Former Colony Inn, 694 Flatbush Avenue, west side, on Parkside Avenue (formerly Franklin Avenue), Demolished in March 1923, 1922

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#59 Central House, southwest corner of Flatbush Avenue and Kings Highway, 1922

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#60 Jerome Schenck House, northwest corner of Church Avenue and E. 56th i.e. E. 53rd Street, 1922

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#61 1754 Flatbush Avenue, Stoolhoff-Duryea House, at the junction with Avenue J and E. 35th Street, 1922

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#62 Central House, southwest corner of Flatbush Avenue and Kings Highway, Demolished by 1925, Flatands, 1922.

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#63 Barn at Stoolhoff-Duryea House, Flatbush Avenue at Avenue J and E. 35th Street, Demolished by 1925

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#64 Birdsall House, 612 Flatbush Avenue, corner of Chester Court, opposite Fenimore Street, One time home of Samuel Gerritsen; built c.1796; demolished 1926

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#65 Peter Lott House, west side of Flatbush Avenue opposite Lott Place, between Kings Highway and Flatlands Avenue, Demolished 1925

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#66 Formerly located at 563 Flatbush Avenue, east side, south of Maple Street; moved to Prospect Park in 1918

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#67 Jerome Schenck House, northwest corner of Church Avenue and E. 53rd Street, 1922.

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#68 Flatbush Town Hall, erected 1875, south side of Flatbush Avenue and Bedford Avenue, near Suydam Avenue courts and police station, 1922.

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#69 Parsonage Reformed Dutch Church, 2103 Kenmore Place Kenmore Terrace? , Stood formerly at Flatbush Avenue, =1920s

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#70 Traffic at the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City, 1929.

At top right is an election poster for Supreme Court candidate, Charles J. Dodd, amongst others. In the background (right) is an elevated railway line.

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