Borough and State: Brooklyn, New York
Listed: 1976
Type of district: National Register historic district, state historic district, local historic district
Main Intersection: Clinton and Warren Streets
Cobble Hill National Register Historic District Report
Cobble Hill National Register Historic District Map
Largely developed in the decades preceding the Civil War, Cobble Hill is part of a neighborhood known until the post World War II era as South Brooklyn. By 1860 most of the land in what is now the Cobble Hill Historic District was built up, primarily with brick and stone single-family row houses and institutional buildings constructed to serve the needs of area residents. Development continued after the Civil War to the turn of the 20th century. It was during this time that this area of South Brooklyn began to develop its unique architectural character.
New construction in the Cobble Hill area included the famous Home and Tower model tenements and workers houses on Hicks; Warren and Baltic Streets and Warren Place; the construction of P.S. 78 on Pacific Street; St. Paul’s School, a Catholic school on Warren Street; and the erection of several multiple dwellings and row houses. In the early part of the 20th century, the economic and ethnic character of the area changed as working-class families moved in to Cobble Hill. The population grew and the neighborhood responded by erecting many new institutional buildings such as churches and Catholic and public schools. All of these architecturally distinguished structures contribute to the special character of both the Cobble Hill Historic District and the larger South Brooklyn area.