Brooklyn Borough Hall

Brooklyn Borough Hall

Photograph, circa 1908 Historic American Buildings Survey archive

Brooklyn Borough Hall was designed in 1835 and completed in 1849 to be used as the City Hall of the City of Brooklyn. In January 1898 the independent City of Brooklyn was annexed into the City of New York and Kings County became the Borough of Brooklyn.

Construction on Brooklyn's City Hall began in 1848 and the Kings County Courthouse was built in 1868, turning this area (now known as Downtown Brooklyn into a government center and busy area of commerce. In the 1940s, the Kings County Courthouse and other nearby buildings were replaced by a complex of courthouses and a plaza that stand in front of Borough Hall. A mall connects the building to Cadman Plaza Park.

On February 26, 1895, waste paper caught fire and destroyed the cupola, the top floors of the building, and water damage ruined the walls and ceiling of the Common Council chamber. A flag crowned the building for the next 85 years, until the 1980s when the building was restored and the figure of Lady Justice was placed on top of a new cupola. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on {{#time:j F Y}}.

See also

• New York City Hall
• Brooklyn Heights)

References

• Reiss, Marcia (2002). Brooklyn Then and Now, Thunder Bay Press, ISBN 1-57145-792-5
• The Brooklyn Borough Hall 1903-1938
• DCAS Managed Public Buildings
• Historic American Buildings Survey Images and historical information

External links

• Pictures of Borough Hall

New York City
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The Five Boroughs:  The Bronx · Brooklyn · Manhattan · Queens · Staten Island

Coordinates: 40°41′34″N, 73°59′25″W

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