Is This The Only Stretch Of Bluestone Sidewalk In Ditmas Park?
You’re probably familiar with bluestone sidewalks from other neighborhoods around the city, like Park Slope, where some historic blocks have kept their original quarried walks. But have you ever noticed any around Ditmas Park?
Along Argyle Road, close to Beverley, there are a couple of sections of bluestone sidewalk, pictured above. It’s difficult to tell in this old photo of this stretch if this was how the sidewalk looked in 1963 — does anyone remember if this has always been there, or if it was placed there recently? And can anyone think of any other bluestone sidewalks in our area?
As with many of the old photos from the neighborhood, this postcard with a postmark of 1911 seems to show smooth concrete sidewalks along Albemarle Road. We dug around as much as we could, but didn’t turn up any mention or photograph of bluetone being used around here.
Though poured concrete sidewalks grew in popularity in the last century, the Times notes that “some of New York’s first sidewalks laid in the early 19th century were made of Catskill bluestone, and in parts of the city they are still in place.” Just not here, we’re guessing.
If you’re headed up to the Catskills this summer (as are, apparently, more and more Brooklynites) and you’d like to see a place where some of those old sidewalks came from, check out Opus 40 in Saugerties. A bluestone quarry that was abandoned after sales fell off, artist Harvey Fite bought it and turned it into a piece of art unlike any you’ve ever seen. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places, and it’s a pretty unique connection to our own city’s past.
