The United States reservation, known as the Navy Yard, occupies about 112 acres in the bend of the river to which the Dutch gave the name that still clings, the Wallabout. This is the chief naval station of the United States. It contains trophies of the three great wars, and the 6000 feet of water front is always made interesting by the presence of one or more ships of war.
In 1884 Brooklyn obtained from the United States Government a lease of the 422,525 square feet of land on the east of the Navy Yard, and adjoining the Wallabout canal. On this plot a large market has grown up and supplied the city with a marketing centre of which it long stood in need. In July, 1890, an act of Congress authorized the sale of the fee-simple of the land to Brooklyn; the city authorities completing the purchase in November, 1891, at the valuation of $700,000. Later, an additional purchase of adjoining land from the federal government extended the market property to the Wallabout canal, and enabled the increase of the number of lots for stands to 120. The present area of the market lands is bounded as follows: On the north by the Wallabout canal; on the east by the lands of the United States Naval Hospital; on the south by Flushing Avenue, and on the west by Washington Avenue.
In December, 1892, the national government authorized the sale to Brooklyn of additional lands of the Navy Yard reservation, abutting upon the west side of Washington Avenue, and embraced between that avenue and a line on a continuation of Clinton Avenue, Flushing Avenue, and the East River,—a tract which would more than double in extent the area of the market possessions.
Brooklyn's boundaries on the east and south touch a number of large cemeteries, most noted of which is Greenwood, which holds many distinguished dead, and many notable monuments. In 1893 there were 5519 interments at the cemetery of the Evergeens, and during the same year 3000 at Cypress Hills, and 18,000 at Calvary Cemetery. There are not less than thirty cemeteries within the county, a fact that presents a serious problem in the extension of the city's lines.
The development of Prospect Park has been a matter of great pride and gratification to the city. In recent years the park has been adorned by a number of statues. J. S. T. Stranahan has received the unique honor of a public statue in his lifetime. In the plaza is the statue of Lincoln already mentioned. Within the park are busts of Thomas Moore, Washington Irving, and of John Howard Payne, one of Long Island's sons.
The Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch in the Park Plaza was proposed by Seth Low in a speech at Greenwood, on Decoration Day. The Legislature voted $250,000, subscriptions were raised, the competition for a suitable design was won by John H. Duncan, the corner-stone was laid in 1889, and the monument was finished in 1892.
The Municipal Building was finished in 1878, at a cost of $200,000, and the Hall of Records adjoining the county Court House in 1886, at a cost of $275,000. The most imposing public building in the city is the Federal Building, bounded by Washington, Johnson, and Adams streets. This massive structure of Maine granite contains the central post-office quarters, and the federal courts and offices. The site cost $413,594.12, and the building $1,258,057.06.
Some of the most important building operations in recent years have expressed the enterprises of the great bazaars, gathered most thickly on Fulton Street, but appearing also on other leading thoroughfares.
A glance at the buildings of the city quickly suggests the remarkable increase in the number of theatres.
According to Gabriel Harrison's "History of the Drama in Brooklyn" the first dramatic performance in the city took place in a stone building on the north side of "the old road" (Fulton Street), near the corner of Front Street. This building had been known for thirty years or more as Corporation House, belonging to the corporation of the city of New York. It contained a tavern and a ferry room on its ground floor and a hall on the second. When the British gained possession of Brooklyn the house changed hands, and was known while they remained as the King's Head. It was fitted as a resort for officers and men, and all sorts of amusements were offered, from bull-baiting to games of chance. George III.'s birthday was celebrated by illuminations and fish dinners, to which the Tories of New York came over in rowboats. At the first dramatic performances here an original farce was acted, of which General John Burgoyne was the alleged author. It was called "The Battle of Brooklyn." The title-page reads: "The Battle of Brooklyn; a farce in two acts, as it was performed in Long Island on Tuesday, 27th day of August, 1776, by the representatives of the Tyrants of America, assembled in Philadelphia."