Maple Street, Then and Now
Here’s a fun one. A reader bought an old postcard of her block in Lefferts Manor (Maple Street between Bedford and Rogers) on eBay recently and sent it to Zach Van Schouwen, the guy who takes creates modern-day replicas of old Brooklyn photos at his website Re-Brooklyn. Evidently they had yet to invent people who…
Here’s a fun one. A reader bought an old postcard of her block in Lefferts Manor (Maple Street between Bedford and Rogers) on eBay recently and sent it to Zach Van Schouwen, the guy who takes creates modern-day replicas of old Brooklyn photos at his website Re-Brooklyn. Evidently they had yet to invent people who block bike lanes with their pick-up trucks back then. Check out a larger version of the postcard, estimate to be from around 1920, here.
Bedford Avenue and Maple Street [Re-Brooklyn]
Mopar, I hadn’t heard the fire hazard concern. I think a lot of people don’t like the style these days for sure. I can’t tell from your phrasing if you agree that they are a fire hazard or if you’re just mentioning it as a reason they’re less frequently seen. I just assumed people forgot about all those kinds of old fashioned things for making the house cooler in the summer once ACs became cheap and popular.
Those shades were very popular for about a century but more recently deemed to be a fire hazard.
Arkady,
The Lefferts Manor Association used to plant a lot of trees. When I first joined the LMA Board, about 25 years ago, there was a tree committee, since expanded to a beautification committee that, among other things, plants barrel planters lining most blocks.
There are a number of brass plaques on sidewalks, by trees, memorializing soldiers killed in the 60s. One of the most poignant is a plaque for a tree memorializing Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. Sadly, the tree pit is now empty.
As far as the lifespan of trees go, the Maple tree in front of my house was already very large in the 1940 tax photograph so it might be the original (although that’s questionable–my house dates to 18990.
It looks like a dirt road! I also found old striped awnings in my garage. They were used on the South side of the house. Mine are maroon and white. One day I’d like to have something similar put back to keep the house cooler in summer. The supports that they attach to outside are not all there and I suspect that the rolled-up awning in the garage will not turn out to be in good shape when I unroll it.
New construction that actually worked. If anyone happens to go by the Brooklyn Library @ Grand Army Plaza – there are some wonderful books w/ pictures of Flatbush of the late 19th/20th century. An almost treeless Prospect Park, The Parade Grounds, The old General and Trade stores on Flatbush Ave (some of when it was just a dirt road), The Loews Kings Theatre in its glory days. Great Photo.
Probably the result of a program much like the million tree program now Arkady. In my neighborhood the developers planted the trees when they divided the lots and built the house. Many more have been planted since then by the neighborhood association’s Arbor Day tree planting and more recently by the Parks Department under the Mayor’s program. BTW does anyone know the lifespan of these trees. Do they live 150 years or more? I am wondering if all of those trees planted 100 years ago will all begin dying at around the same time leaving the streets bare again.
My next door neighbor was here in the mid-50s & participated in planting the trees along Lincoln Place when he was about 12. I imagine it was a borough-wide program.
I found some of the window awnings in the attic of my house and I got pretty much the same results as you Bob when I moved them. I thought about having some made and reinstalled until I realized that the now mature trees on my block serve pretty much the same purpose. Nice look though.
The photos I have of my block of Carroll Street were taken in the 30’s and they show very few trees at all. Most of the houses were built around 1900 so you’d think that with 30 years there should be some nice mature trees. I guess my question is are blocks much “greener” now than they were back then? It certainly appears that way to me, but I don’t really know the history of it.