Photo of the Day: Flatbush Ave, 1890

Sepia-toned black & white image of dirt road in foreground with sidewalk, wooden fence, and large house behind. The house is angled so that its door does not face the street. Two girls stand out front

Flatbush Ave has always been the “main drag” of Flatbush, but before the 1900s that meant more houses than shops. This photo from circa 1890 was most likely taken on Flatbush Ave, with the Dutch-style house and the white picket fence being characteristic of Flatbush Ave at that time. Another Flatbush Ave trait: the houses were built sideways, with their doors not facing the street, in order to be more energy efficient — sun could stream in from the west or east (depending on which side of the street your house was on) and heat the entire house. This was especially useful before furnaces were invented, when the only other source of heat was the family’s kitchen fireplace. The kitchen is the smaller structure, shown here on the right of the house with the chimney on top. In earlier times, people who were enslaved by the family — often one adult and one child — would also use the kitchen as a place to sleep.

(photo: New York Public Library Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History)