In the original Williamsburgh Street grid, Driggs Avenue was Fifth Street, running from Division Avenue to the Williamsburgh/Greenpoint line. By 1879, Fifth Street extended as far north as Leonard Street in Greenpoint. North of Leonard Street the street continued to Meeker Avenue as Van Cott Street.
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There were 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 43 of whom have (or had) streets named for them in South Williamsburg and Bed-Stuyvesant. These streets were mapped and named around 1846, when this area of the city of Brooklyn (then generally called East Brooklyn) was just being developed. The 13 signers not commemorated in East Brooklyn already had streets named for them elsewhere in Brooklyn (or streets that coincidentally had the same name, and thus conflicted). Here are the 56 signers and the streets named for them:
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Immanuel Swedish Lutheran Church, located on Leonard Street between Driggs and Nassau, was founded in 1894. In April of 1898, the church purchased the property on Leonard Street and constructed a one-story wood-frame church.
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The Williamsburgh Turn Verein, or Turner Hall, was the "oldest and most prominent German society" in Brooklyn in the second half of the 19th century. The organization was founded sometime before 1858, and the building pictured here was probably constructed around 1860.
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St. James Cathedral Basilica is the second church building to serve this parish. The first church was constructed in 1822 and was the first Roman Catholic church on Long Island. In 1852, St. James became the cathedral parish for the newly-established Diocese of Brooklyn under Bishop Loughlin.
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The Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church of East New York was established in 1883. Shortly thereafter the congregation purchased a property on Berriman Street near Eastern Parkway (?) and constructed a church, only to find out that the title on the property was not clear.
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Louis H. Voss was active in Brooklyn municipal architecture in the early 20th century. A graduate of Pratt Institute, Voss had a partnership with P. J. Lauritzen starting the in the 1890s. Voss is credited with the design of two public baths in Brooklyn as well at least one police precinct.
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In the early 20th Century bathhouses were constructed throughout Brooklyn to provide hygiene to residents in areas that lacked baths, and sometimes even plumbing, in their homes. The Huron Street bathhouse was the fourth of seven public baths constructed in Brooklyn between 1900 and 1910.
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Blessed Virgin Mary Help of Christians parish was founded as Holy Angels parish in 1854, and was the first German national parish in Queens County. The parish was later named St. Mary's, then St. Mary's Winfield and is now known as Blessed Virgin Mary Help of Christians. Until 1949, this area of Woodside was called Winfield.
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John O'Malley was perhaps the most prolific Catholic church architect in the New York area from the 1950s until his death in 1970. Working primarily in Queens and on Long Island, O'Malley designed dozens of churches.
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St. Michael parish in Flushing predates the founding of the Diocese of Brooklyn. The parish's official founding was in 1848 (making it the third oldest in Queens County), but parish lore says that services began here in 1833. The church itself was constructed in 1962, designed by architect John O'Malley.
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Parish Center and Institute for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, Astoria, Queens.