Flatlands

Understanding Flatlands

The Dutch settlement was called Nieuw Amersfoort. It became part of the City of Brooklyn in 1896. The church and cemetery preserve links to that older town, while later houses and community facilities belong to the modern neighborhood.

The surviving Van Nuyse house adds domestic architecture to the church and cemetery story. Its late-eighteenth-century farmhouse form preserves a piece of the older agricultural landscape amid later streets and homes. The landmark report also uses the Coe family name.

Places to explore

• Flatlands Reformed Church and cemetery

  3931 Kings Highway

  The church site and adjacent burial ground connect today’s streets to the old settlement. The community board identifies early local families among the burials.

• Flatlands Library

  2065 Flatbush Avenue at Avenue P

  The current building opened in 1955 after the library’s first years in a former bank. Its Inclusive Services programming and Braille materials give this small neighborhood institution a specific role. Check current opening hours and programs.

• Van Nuyse (Coe) House exterior

  1128 East 34th Street

  The low frame farmhouse has a steep roof that curves outward above the walls, with small windows below the eaves. Its wing and porch show another surviving form of the area’s farm architecture. View from the public street; no interior visit is established.

Planning a visit

Flatlands Library lists B9, B41, B82 and Q35 bus connections. Check the current stop and the approach to the church or library you choose.

BPL lists the library as fully accessible. Contact the church before seeking church or cemetery entry; regular visiting hours were not established by the neighborhood history page.