NYC Arts: The Complete Guide to Art and Culture

Five permanent exhibits here give visitors an excellent overview of Brooklyn history. Brooklyn Dodgers retraces baseball's early roots in the borough and recalls that great team of 1955. Coney Island shows what the old boardwalk was like and resurrects some of the great old seaside hotels. Brooklyn Bridge is a celebration of that famous span that shows how it spurred neighborhood growth. Navy Yard describes the borough's crucial contributions to World War II. Brooklynites expands upon the borough's extraordinary history of cultural diversity. The temporary exhibitions feature more narrowly focused subjects such as the Latino community, the borough's historic black churches, and the Chinese contribution to the borough, as well as that of the large Jewish community. Walking tours are conducted to nearby sites and structures of architectural and historic significance.

The society's landmark building, designed by George B. Post and opened in 1881, was the first structure in New York to make extensive use of terra-cotta in exterior design. Its second-floor library, which contains the largest collection of Brooklyn-related research materials in the world, has been designated an interior landmark.

• Landmark Status: National Register of Historic Places, New York City Landmark

• Archive: Library hours are Wed-Fri, 1-5 pm. Researchers and readers are recommended to contact the library prior to a visit.
• Disability Access: Fully ADA accessible; restrooms available
• Disability Assistance: BHS offers an audio description of the building for people who are blind and partially sighted through the Web site of New York Beyond Sight.
• Gift Shops: The BHS has a virtual bookstore.
• On-Site Food: None, but in walking distance of restaurants, parks and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade
• On-Site Parking: Commercial lots nearby
• Space Rental

Get involved with Brooklyn Historical Society

• Memberships