| Details: | Join the Brooklyn Committees own history buffs on a ride through the neighborhoods of Bedford Town/South Williamsburg, Bed-Stuy, Weeksville, Rugby, Ditmas Park, & Prospect Park South. Will end somewhere special for a relaxing sunset. (check back for more info...) Some historical info to wet your appetites... Established in the 1600's, Bedford Town is steeped in history. Bedford Town was comprised of 2 main communities: Bedford, at its west end and Stuyvesant Heights, at its east. Washington's army engaged the British in the Battle of Brooklyn, August 27, 1776, at Bedford Pass (now Bedford Avenue). Never incorporated as a village, it is known today as Bedford-Stuyvesant. It was mostly rural, before the grand days when the rich and famous covered the area with brownstones - some modest and many palatial. Besides the rich architecture of its houses, Bedford contains some of the grandest churches seen anywhere. Weeksville was a community of free African Americans, located in the 9th Ward of Brooklyn, which prospered after New York State outlawed slavery in 1837. The community had its own school, newspaper, social and athletic groups, an orphanage, a home for the elderly, plus many churches. Professionals, as well as civil servants and craftsmen lived in houses built between 1840 and 1883. We will be stopping at the four historic Hunterfly Road Houses, all that remain of the much larger pre-Civil War community. By the 1950s, except for the home facing Bergen St., the Hunterfly Road houses were largely forgotten. Then in 1968, an engineer and a historian flew over the area and rediscovered the houses, which launched a preservation effort. The houses were designated a city landmark in 1970 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Rugby & Ditmas Park are Flatbush neighbourhoods located on land that remained rural until the early 20th century, until the suburban housing development consisting of large, free-standing Victorian homes was built in the 1900s. Prospect Park South is a distinct neighborhood within the community of Flatbush. Developed at the end of the 19th century as a community of large, individually-designed homes, its motto was rus in urb (country in the city). A number of the homes in the community are considered mansions, telling of a historical period of wealth and prominent individuals of means. |
