B. has a number of parks: Washington park occupies the site of Fort Greene, of revolutionary fame; Carroll park is very tastefully laid out; but its chief pleasure ground, and one of the most superb in the country, is Prospect park, the construction of which was begun in 1866; it now covers, with the adjoining parade-ground, 550 acres. The site is one full of natural beauty; magnificent views, tine forest trees, a fertile soil, and numerous lakes lend to the spot all the charms of rural scenery. Upon the plaza at the main entrance is a magnificent fountain and a bronze statute of Abraham Lincoln. Twenty-five acres have been set apart for zoological gardens, and there is a fine observa tory on Lookout hill. There are 11 m. of walks, and 10 in. of roads for driving and riding purposes. The cemeteries of B. are widely known: Greenwood, Cypress Hills, and the Cemetery of the Evergreens, are the principal, while there are several of smaller size and note. In Greenwood are interred about 175,000 bodies, and there are over 2000 monuments; the ground inclosed is 413 acres, situated on Gowanus heights, in the s. part of the city.
The U. S. government bought the site now occupied by the navy-yard, for $40,000, in 1801, but by subsequent purchases has become the owner of about 200 acres in the neighborhood. The navy-yard occupies nearly 50 acres, inclosed by a high brick wall, and is situated on the s. shore of Wallabout bay. The Directory credits B. with 274 churches, which would seem to justify the appellation of "the city of churches." Of this number there are: Baptist, 27; Congregationalist, 23; Presbyterian, 27; Protestant Episcopal. 36; Reformed church, 15; Lutheran, 14; Methodist Episcopal, 39, besides 7 churches for colored members; Roman Catholic, 42, and the Jews have 6 synagogues. We are limited to a simple reference to a few of the more prominent churches. " Ann's on the Heights" is a fine Episcopal church; the general style of its architecture is the middle-pointed gothic. The church of the Holy Trinity is built of brown stone, in the Gothic style, and has a spire 275 ft. high; it is one of the handsomest churches in the country. St. Paul's is constructed of rough-hewn blue granite and sandstone, in Gothic style; it has a front of 75 ft., a depth of 145 ft., and is 67 ft. high in the nave. The church of the Pilgrims is built of gray stone, and inserted in the main tower is a piece of the Plymouth rock; its pastor, Dr. R. S. Storrs, is a noted pulpit orator. Plymouth church, a plain brick building on Orange street, has accommodations for seat ing 2800 persons, and contains what was until recently the largest church organ in America; Henry Ward Beecher has been its pastor for the last 33 years, and the desire to hear him preach is so great that many pew-holders generously give up their seats to strangers for the evening service. The amount offered for pew-rents during the year 1880 was over $40,000. A Roman Catholic cathedral is in process of erection on Lafay
ette avenue, between Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues; it will be a very large and impos ing structure. The "Tabernacle" is on Schennerhorn street; the exterior is of brick, stone trimmings, and the interior is well arranged for seating a large audience; the plan is a large semicircle, the organ in the center of the straight side, with the pulpit immediately in front, giving the speaker command of the entire building, a spacious gallery runs around the entire auditorium. A door at the end of each aisle opens into -a wide hall, so that in case of fire the church can be emptied in a very short time; its pastor is the well-known Rev. T. De Witt Talmage. There are nearly 200 private schools and educational institutions in B. Among these are several whose names have now a national reputation. Such are the Packer collegiate institute, and the Brooklyn heights seminary for young ladies; the Adelphi academy, the Collegiate and Polytechnic insti tute for boys, and the juvenile high-school. Among the principal buildings are the city hall, the Kings co. court-house, costing, with the adjacent grounds, $1,200,000; the Kings co. savings-liank, the church charity foundation, the new B. orphan asylum, the college of St. John the Baptist, the art building, the academy of design, and the Long Island historical society, now being built of terra-cotta, at the corner of Clinton and Pierpont streets. The academy of music, on Montague street, was built in 1860, cost ing $206,000; it contains seats for 2300 persons; is built of handsome brick with Dor chester stone trimmings; 232 ft. long, 92 ft. wide, and 56 ft. high. Opposite is the B. library, a handsome model of what the home of a library ought to be. The building was completed in 1867, at a cost of $227,000; the library now numbers 58,000 volumes, and Mr. S. B. Noyes, the librarian of the institution, has the credit of organizing a cata logue system that has been highly praised for its thorough and convenient method of reference. The Kings co. penitentiary is on Nostrand avenue; its expenses for 1879 were $101,171,75; its earnings, $92,917.04; and it contained 2000 prisoners. The two principal theaters are the Park theater, on Fulton street, opposite the city hall park, and the Brooklyn theater, corner of Johnson and Washington streets, on the site of one which was destroyed by fire Dec. 6, 1876, causing the death of over 300 persons; the new struc ture has proper means of exit, and is called Haverly's Brooklyn theater. There are 21 hospitals, dispensaries. and infirmaries, besides numerous other benevolent institutions. Atnoug- these are the Long Island college hospital, St. Mary's and St. Peter's hospital, the female orphan asylum, the marine hospital, and the Graham institution for the relief of aged women.