On November 10, 1981 Clinton Hill was designated an historic district. A better description of this area of Brooklyn could not possibly be found than the one that follows from This is Brooklyn: A Guide to the Borough’s Historic Districts and Landmarks, by Andrew S. Dolkart: “Clinton Hill, one of the most beautiful and varied neighborhoods in Brooklyn, is unique in the history of its architecture and development. Unlike most Brooklyn historic districts, which developed relatively rapidly and have remained virtually unchanged, Clinton Hill experienced four periods of growth between the 1840s and 1920s, all of which have left a mark on the area. Today, this prosperous multi-ethnic community near Pratt Institute survives as a virtual museum of American residential and institutional architecture, its streets lined with grand mansions, handsome row houses and apartment buildings, and imposing churches, clubs, and schools.

“Until the 1840s, Clinton Hill was an area of rural farms located in what was called East Brooklyn. The first indication of the neighborhood’s future residential character occurred in 1832, when Clinton Avenue was laid out as a wide tree-lined boulevard at the crest of Clinton Hill’s modest elevation. This was considered an ideal location for the construction of suburban villas because it was thought that higher elevations provided purer, healthier air. By the 1840s, Gothic and Italian Renaissance inspired villas, set back from the street behind sweeping lawns, began to appear. The most extraordinary surviving villa is the wooden Gothic Revival style house at 284 Clinton Avenue (c. 1854) with its pointed-arched porch supported by clustered columns.

“Despite the villas, there were so few people in the area that a 19th-century source reported that ‘the families who were venturesome enough to settle in this neighborhood were regarded as having banished themselves beyond the reach of civilization.’ However, by 1860, the speculative development of row houses was moving up Clinton Hill, through the Fort Greene Historic District and into the area that has been designated the Clinton Hill Historic District. By 1880, most of the streets in the area were lined with rows of brownstone houses that include some of the finest Italianate, French Second Empire, and Neo-Greek homes in the city. The grandeur and rhythmic uniformity of these dwellings appealed to Brooklyn’s growing population of affluent business and professional people, most of whom commuted to jobs in Manhattan.

“Had building ceased at that point, Clinton Hill would have been typical of Brooklyn’s 19th-century residential neighborhoods. Instead, it experienced another major period of growth between about 1880 and 1915. It was during this period that some of Brooklyn’s wealthiest people moved to the Hill, building sumptuous mansions on Clinton and Washington avenues. The conversion of Clinton Avenue from a street of old suburban villas into the “gold coast� of Brooklyn was spurred by the decision of Standard Oil vice-president Charles Pratt to build a new home at 232 Clinton Avenue in 1874. Within a few years, other industrialists and financiers joined him, hiring the most prominent architects in Brooklyn and New York City. Among the notable homes are those built for Charles Pratt’s three sons on Clinton Avenue, between Willoughby and DeKalb avenues; the spectacular Romanesque Revival style Charles Millard Pratt house at No. 241 (now the home of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brooklyn), designed by Brooklynite William Tubby, and mansions designed by the Manhattan firm of Babb, Cook & Willard for Frederick B. and George Dupont Pratt at Nos. 229 and 245. Other prominent industrialists who built large houses in Clinton Hill included Rheingold brewery owner Julius Liebman; baking soda king Dr. Cornelius Hoagland; Bristol-Meyers partner William Bristol; coffee magnate John Arbuckle; Charles Pfizer, founder of the chemical and drug firm that bears his name; John Thomas Underwood of the Underwood Typewriter Company; and elevator manufacturer, A.B. See, now remembered as a virulent anti-feminist who once declared that ‘all women’s colleges should be burned.’

“Many of the large mansions were on plots that extended completely through the block, providing room at the rear for carriage houses or garages with accommodations for a coachman or chauffeur. There are several fine examples of these buildings on Waverly and Vanderbilt Avenues.

“During the period, when the mansions were being erected, several groups of Romanesque Revival style row houses were also built in the district, most notably Montrose Morris’ 285-89 and 282-90 DeKalb Avenue (1889-90) and the picturesque complex of small row houses on St. James Place just south of Gates Avenue, designed by various architects between 1888 and 1896. Apartment houses began to appear in Clinton Hill in about 1900, as middle-class people, chose the convenience of apartment living over the responsibilities of owning a private home. Among the early apartment houses are the Clinton (1897), on the corner of Clinton and DeKalb avenues, and the Royal Castle (1911-12), an individual landmark …

“Following the pattern established in Brooklyn’s older neighborhoods, churches and other institutions were founded in Clinton Hill shortly after residential construction began. In keeping with the area’s affluent population, the houses of worship are particularly grand. Two of the churches, Emmanuel Baptist and St. Luke’s Episcopal (both individual landmarks) are among the most beautiful 19th-century religious structures in the entire borough.

“The final wave of development in Clinton Hill occurred during the 1920s and 1940s, when mansions on Clinton and Washington avenues were demolished and replaced by apartment houses. Those erected during the 1920s are generally six-story buildings, many set back behind gardens, with facades ornamented in a manner that blends with the older homes. During World War II, several blocks in the neighborhood were cleared for the construction of high-rise apartment houses for workers in the nearby Navy Yard.�

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