Brooklyn · Area collection
Bedford-Stuyvesant
Bedford-Stuyvesant’s row houses and monumental school buildings tell related stories of a rapidly growing Brooklyn. Look at the Willoughby-Hart blocks, Boys’ High School and Girls’ High School for different forms of that growth.
Understanding Bedford-Stuyvesant
Bedford Corners was a rural crossroads before nineteenth-century builders filled the area with housing. Streetcars and the Brooklyn Bridge strengthened its connections. Large public schools followed as the neighborhood grew.
Places to explore
Willoughby-Hart Historic District
Willoughby Avenue and Hart Street between Nostrand and Marcy avenuesCompare the repeated brownstone fronts with the mansard roofs and rougher stone on some houses. The district preserves two particular blocks; its legal boundary does not define all Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Boys’ High School
832 Marcy AvenueRound arches, a corner tower and projecting forms give the former school a fortress-like outline.
Girls’ High School
475 Nostrand AvenueThe long front combines steep roofs, towers and carved stone around the windows. Its history records the expansion of public secondary education as Bedford changed from village to city.
Planning a visit
All three selections can be approached as exterior architecture. School entrances and residential stoops are not public sightseeing interiors.
Sources and visitor information
- Willoughby-Hart historic districtNYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
- Boys’ High School designationNYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
- Girls’ High School designationNYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
- 2020 Neighborhood Tabulation Areas (NTAs), NYC Open Data 26BNYC Department of City Planning / NYC Open Data