Get Into the Winter Spirit With Some Vintage Photos of Brooklyn in the Snow

While there isn’t a blizzard in the immediate forecast, you can still feel the winter chill with a perusal through these vintage shots of Brooklyn covered in a coating of snow.

Brooklynite George Bradford Brainerd, an engineer and amateur photographer, started experimenting with photography at a young age and captured thousands of images, including early views of ice skaters in Prospect Park. In the 19th century, skaters packed the park on winter evenings and “hundreds of swirling figures zipped along the Lullwater, lit by the soft amber lights of lanterns,” according to author David P. Colley in “Prospect Park: Olmsted and Vaux’s Brooklyn Masterpiece.”

The intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic avenues after the Great Blizzard of 1888, which brought 22 inches of snow to New York City. The tallest drift in the city was measured in Gravesend. It was 52 feet high.

A snowy landscape surrounds the Williamson Homestead in East Flatbush in 1909. The early 19th century wood frame residence, located roughly at the corner of Church and Utica avenues, was demolished that year and its surrounding land filled with more than 40 new houses.

Snow clings to the roof of the Commandant’s House in 1914. Landmarked and privately owned since the 1970s, the clapboard house at 24 Evans Street was built circa 1806 for the Navy Yard’s commandant. While you can’t get inside, some interior shots also taken in 1914 give a bit of a virtual tour.

Pedestrians near the Dime Savings Bank in Downtown Brooklyn struggle through the snow during a blizzard in 1944 on February 11 at 1 p.m., to be precise, according to notes by the photographer Max Hubacher. If they were seeking some respite from the storm at the Albee, the movies on offer were Deanna Durbin in “His Butler’s Sister” and WWII film “Rookies in Burma.” The current view has changed a bit with 9 Dekalb, aka Brooklyn Tower, now rising behind the landmarked bank.

While another Downtown Brooklyn scene by photographer Max Hubacher in 1956 shows a slushy view, it is perhaps more interesting for the glimpse of the New York State Supreme Court Building at 360 Adams Street under construction.

Related Stories

• Newly Digitized Negatives Give a Glimpse of Mid-Century Life Around Pratt Institute
• A Bird’s-Eye View of Prospect Park South When It Was Young
• Brooklynites Sport in Prospect Park (Photos)

Email tips@brownstoner.com with further comments, questions or tips. Follow Brownstoner on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.