4. Fiske Terrace-Midwood Park is a historic district with early 1900s architecture

  • Fiske Terrace
  • Fiske Terrace
  • Fiske Terrace

The Fiske Terrace-Midwood Park Historic District is a roughly 12-block historic district by Flatbush. Fiske Terrace and Midwood Park were both developed in the early 1900s as planned communities by the T.B. Ackerson Company and the John R. Corbin Company. Both were constructed on land that years prior was heavily wooded, with about 150 custom-made homes (the historic district today includes over 250 homes). It was said that the community “transformed from woods into city in 18 months.” The homes were designed in various styles including Queen Anne and Colonial Revival, and streets included a series of “malls,” or tree-lined medians.

Residents of the historic district included Charles Ebbets, who owned the Brooklyn Dodgers and Ebbets Field, and Richard Hellmann, who created Hellmann’s Mayonnaise. The area has been serviced for decades by the Avenue H station of the BMT Brighton Line, whose station house was added to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2004. Some notable homes include 677 East 17th Street, designed by Benjamin Driesler with an octagonal tower; 621 and 625 East 19th Street designed in the Arts & Crafts style; and 624 East 19th Street in the Colonial Revival style with a blue exterior.