Maybe it is—it’s hard to tell how long ago this rusted old sign at the corner of Marlborough and Albemarle Roads went up.
And since it’s located in Prospect Park South, a planned suburban community developed around 1900, it may not be an official city street sign but a decorative one meant to mark the beginning of the neighborhood.
Hidden among the thick leaves of a tree and behind contemporary street signs attached to a Bishop’s Crook lamppost, the Marlborough Road sign has probably seen many decades of Victorian Flatbush history.
Here’s another old-school Brooklyn Street sign still standing tall in Fort Greene as of 2009.
Tags: Albemarle Road, Brooklyn in 1900, Brooklyn street signs, Fort Greene vintage Street Sign, Marlborough Road, New York street, Old street signs, Prospect Park South development, suburban Brooklyn, Victorian Flatbush, Victorian houses of Brooklyn
Ephemeral New York 
June 8, 2011 at 2:27 pm |
There are another four in the neighborhood of Beverley Square West, on the other side of Beverly Road from Prospect Park South. One at the corner of Argyle and Cortelyou Roads, also on private property, still has its sign. The other stanchions are missing their signs.
The signs were placed in the early 1900s, though not quite as early as 1900. The earliest reference I’ve been able to find is from 1902.
The tree in your photo is a rarity: an American Elm, which were nearly wiped out by Dutch Elm Disease. This specimen is one of the highlights of the Sustainable Flatbush Street Tree Walking Tours.
November 12, 2012 at 5:09 am |
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