The postcard is dated 1910, but it must have been made earlier than that. Brooklyn ceased being a separate city in 1898, and City Hall was downgraded to Borough Hall.
In the foreground stands the Henry Ward Beecher statue, a monument to Brooklyn Heights’ most famous preacher, abolitionist, social reformer—and accused adulterer.
His adultery charges and subsequent trial in 1875 (jurors were unable to reach a verdict) became the scandal of the century.
Tags: Brooklyn abolitionists, Brooklyn Borough Hall, Brooklyn City Hall Square, Brooklyn history, City of Brooklyn, downtown Brooklyn, Henry Ward Beecher, New York street, vintage Brooklyn postcards
Ephemeral New York 
March 16, 2011 at 11:29 pm |
Photo likely was taken between 1905 and 1909. To the right at 359 Fulton St is Emerson Shoe. The building was torn down in mid-1909, and replaced with something a bit taller and more ornate. To the left is the Mechanics Bank building, including the expansion that curves along the lot front where Court meets Fulton. The ten-story addition to the older section in foreground was only in planning stages in April, 1904.
Sometimes other clues can be obtained from signs, but haven’t been able to locate the original photo from which the card was made.
City Hall persisted in common usage many decades after consolidation. It probably wouldn’t be hard to find Brooklynites who still say it.