Earlier this week, BHS staff toured BLDG 92, the newly opened history center and museum at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. BLDG 92 explores the fascinating and changing history of the Yard, from the Revolutionary War to the present day. In honor of BLDG 92, this post will showcase maps from the BHS collection that feature Wallabout Bay and the Yard.
The first map is a reproduction of a portion of Bernard Ratzer’s “Plan of the city of New York…” (the Ratzer Map), which was surveyed in 1766 and 1767. This 20th century reproduction was created as an advertisement for the East Brooklyn Savings Bank, whose modern location is indicated on the map in red.
Wallabout Bay and the farming community in 1766. (19--?). Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
The second map was surveyed by Charles Loss in 1810 and shows the newly created Navy Yard. The map also features marshlands and areas bare at low water.
Map of Wallabout Bay and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Charles Loss. (1810). Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
The next image is detail of the Navy Yard from Hooker’s map of the village of Brooklyn in 1827. Note the development of the area as compared to the previous map, specifically, the construction of the Navy Hospital and the U.S. Powder Houses.
Hooker's map of the village of Brooklyn in 1827. ca 1861. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
The following two images were taken from general maps of Brooklyn ca. 1900.
Map of a part of the borough of Kings (Brooklyn), New York City. ca. 1900. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
Brooklyn. ca. 1900. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
And finally, detail from a 1995 map of Brooklyn made by the Getty Oil Company. This map illustrates the Yard’s transition from shipbuilding facility to industrial park. If you’d like to learn more about the Yard’s history, visit BLDG 92!
Brooklyn. Getty. 1995. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
[...] I recently finished up some press invitations for a Brooklyn Philharmonic concert. They incorporate the borough’s handsomest of street-features: the brownstone row house, as well as historical maps, typography, and a fake-newspaper-as-a-concert-program. Led by Artistic Director, Alan Pierson, the Philharmonic takes an inspired approach to concert-theming (like Russian Cartoon Music from last year ), creating experiences engineered with surprising little historical touches. This most recent concert, entitled Brooklyn Village, explored the history of life in the borough (once a farming village, then an autonomous city) and highlights the dramatic way that Brooklyn has shape-shifted over time. Here’s DUMBO way before Two Trees ᔥ Brooklyn Historical Society Blog— [...]