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Second German Baptist Church

The northwest corner of Evergreen Avenue and Woodbine Street is believed to be the site of first house constructed in the New Bushwick Lotts, an area granted by Peter Stuyvesant to the residents of the village of Bushwick in 1661. The first house was erected here in about 1700, built by a man named Van Nuyse. The house and three lots (about 70 acres total) were purchased by Leffert Lefferts from William Van Nuyse of New Utrecht in 1724.

Lawrence B. Valk

Lawrence B. Valk (1838-1924) was a prominent Protestant church architect and theorist. He practiced under his own name and with his son Arthur, under the firm L. B. Valk & Son. Valk was based in Brooklyn and New York from 1859 to the early 1890s, but was very active throughout the United States. Around 1890, the firm moved to California, where it continued to be active through 1924.

Union Avenue Baptist Church

Union Avenue Baptist Church was organized in 1869 by 40 members of the First Baptist Church of Greenpoint on Noble Street. The congregation constructed a frame church on Union (now Manhattan) Avenue, which was dedicated in February or March of 1870. In 1900, Union Avenue Baptist Church reunited with First Baptist Church of Greenpoint to form Union Baptist Church. The congregation continues to be located in the First Baptist Church on Noble Street.

Congregation Ahavas Israel & Temple Beth-El

Brooklyn is called the borough of churches, and in the 19th century, it seems that Brooklyn was also a big game of musical churches. Congregations would start up, grow quickly, and then split up or just plain disappear. Often the splits were the result of doctrinal disagreements among congregants or between congregants and their pastor. It was not uncommon for half a congregation to walk away from their church and establish a new church a few blocks away. Other times, demographics would lead to changes in congregations. As one result of all this factional tumult, church buildings would frequently change hands, being passed from denomination to denomination or among congregants of the same denomination.

Lorimer Street

Lorimer Street runs north/south through East Williamsburg (the former 16th Ward) from Broadway to Driggs Avenue. North of Driggs, the street continues to the northwest, terminating at Noble Street. South of Broadway, the street continues to the southwest; this section of Lorimer Street was renamed from _____ Street. The original section of Lorimer Street through East Williamsburg was mapped as part of the expansion of the Village of Williamsburgh east of Union Avenue in 1835.

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