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AUGUST 31, 1912
BROOKLYN'S HILL SECTION ATTRACTS BUYERS
Improved Traflic Conditions Have Again Made The Hill a Residential and Social
Center of Importance—Semi-Public Institutions Are Numerous—Other Changes
THE Hill section of Brooklyn is under¬
going a change for the better. Dur¬
ing a period of fifty years it was one of
the fine residential parts of the city.
When the great movement to the outlying
districts began, in the nineties, the Hill
section suffered from the exodus of many
of its old families to Flatbush and its en¬
virons. Now there is renewed interest in
avenue and Fulton street, which was for¬
merly a quiet residential block given over
to the homes, among others, of such
celebrities as the Rev. Theodore Ledyard
Cuyler and Ira D. Sankey, the world-fa¬
mous hymn writer. That a elub house
is to be reared amid such surroundings
is a circumstance that was undreamed
of even a decade ago; for It is only
Hill section, too, in recent years, notably
on Clinton avenue, and on Washington
avenue. Only a year ago a fine new apart¬
ment house for the exclusi\'e use of phy¬
sicians was built on a corner of Han¬
son and South Elliott places, while Han¬
son place itself has been completely
changed from a choree private residential
thoroughfare Into a business and traffic
HAXSOX PLACE AT SOUTH ELLIOTT PLACE.
SOUTH OXFORD STREET, SOUTH OF FULTO.N STREET.
the Hill in more ways than prevailed
heretofore. The completion of the Man¬
hattan Bridge and the operation of the
Interborough Railroad to Brooklyn have
made the section a greater center than It
was in the past. The bridge tended to
move the business center of Brooklyn to
the neighborhood of Flatbush avenue and
Fulton street, which is at the foot of
the Hill section; and, Fulton street, east
of the new business center penetrates the
Hill, and it has derived beneflt from the
changed condition. Property In the Hill
part of Fulton street is now in good de¬
mand, whereas before the operation of the
subway to Flatbush avenue property in
that part of Fulton street was not in
strong favor. The rental power of stores
in this part of Fulton street has mate¬
rially improved and many old buildings
there have been remodeled in order to
meet the demands of improved trade con¬
ditions.
The Hill section is bounded by Flatbush
avenue, Atlantic avenue. Myrtle avenue
and Grand avenue. It embraces a large
area. There are other factors, too, than
the ones mentioned that have rejuvenated
the situation in the territory; and, those
are the establishing of the Academy of
Music, on Lafayette a\'enue, between
Flatbush avenue and Fulton .':treet; the
erection of two large theatres on Fulton
street, above its intersection with Flat¬
bush avenue; the erection of the new
Masonic Temple, on the crest of the Hill,
at Lafayette and Clermont aAenues; the
decision of the Catholic Diocese of Brook¬
lyn to build the new cathedral on the
site of the one contemplated many vears
ago at Clermont and Lafayette avenues;
and, the erection of the beautiful Paro¬
chial School and Chapel, at Lafayette and
Vanderbilt avenues. The latest evidence
of the trend to the HIII Is the recent de¬
cision of the Brooklyn Lodge of the Ben¬
evolent and Protective Order of Elks to
build an Immense new club house on
South Oxford street, between Atlantic
about that length of time since the Elks
erected a home in lower Schermerhom
street, near the Borough Hall, where it
thought it would be established for a long
period of years. The new order of things
shows the effect of new transportation
routes on neighborhoods susceptible to
their influence. Some large and high-class
apartment houses have been built in the
street of importance. It leads directly
to and from Flatbush avenue station
of the Long Island Railroad to points in
upper Brooklyn. Many old dwellings
have been remodeled for business use.
In addition the new building of the Cen¬
tral Branch of the Young. Men's Chris¬
tian Association will occupy the east
block front of Hanson place, from Fort
GREENE AVE-NIE AT ITS JUNCTION 'WITH FULTON STREET.