Early 20th Century: Planned Suburbia in the “Middle Woods”

Between 1905 and 1910, the T.B. Ackerson Company transformed these former farmlands into two coordinated residential developments—Fiske Terrace to the east of the Brighton Line, and Midwood Park to the west. Together they embodied the ideals of the Garden Suburb Movement, offering urban families the promise of suburban living—spacious lots, detached houses, and natural landscaping—within the reach of rapid transit to Manhattan.

Ackerson’s approach was meticulous. Streets were graded and paved, water and sewer lines installed, and hundreds of trees and shrubs planted before construction began. The company even built sample homes to display its vision of tasteful domesticity. Deed restrictions required detached single-family houses set back from the street, ensuring light, air, and privacy. Unlike the dense tenement districts farther north, these neighborhoods would be built “for homes, not houses.”

The architectural results were extraordinary. Within a decade, builders had erected more than 600 freestanding homes in styles ranging from Colonial Revival and Tudor to Arts and Crafts, Mission, and Prairie School. Many were designed by noted architects of the day—John J. Petit, Benjamin Driesler, and Slee & Bryson—and featured generous porches, bay windows, and fine woodwork. Streets like East 17th Street, Glenwood Road, and Avenue H became showcases of early suburban artistry.

Fiske Terrace, in particular, distinguished itself with a higher elevation, gentle slopes, and a dense canopy of oaks that predated its houses. Midwood Park, immediately to the west, complemented it with slightly smaller lots but equally gracious designs. Both were marketed to upper-middle-class professionals—lawyers, merchants, and educators—seeking respite from the city’s congestion.

Mid–20th Century: Stability and Community Life

Through the 1920s–1950s, Midwood Park and Fiske Terrace matured into two of Brooklyn’s most stable and sought-after residential enclaves. Their location near Brooklyn College (opened 1930) and Midwood High School (opened 1940) drew academic and civic-minded residents, while the presence of synagogues and churches reflected the neighborhood’s growing diversity.

The community’s suburban qualities—detached homes, private gardens, tree-lined streets—remained remarkably intact even as surrounding districts urbanized. Many of the original homeowners’ descendants stayed for generations, and the neighborhood’s architectural integrity was maintained through pride rather than policy. During these decades, modest modernization—indoor plumbing upgrades, enclosed porches, and finished attics—coexisted with a deep respect for the homes’ original craftsmanship.

The Avenue H train station, built in 1906 as the Ackerson Company’s sales office, became a beloved local landmark. When the city threatened to demolish it in the 1970s, residents successfully campaigned for its preservation, leading to its designation as a New York City Landmark in 2004—the only subway station in the city housed in a wooden cottage.