Pictures of the Past: Street Signs

Two cast-iron street signs still stand in our neighborhood, reminders of a time when the designers of this area changed the numbered street names to ones that sounded more like streets in the English countryside. The signs at Marlborough and Albemarle Roads and at Cortelyou and Argyle Roads sure look old, but how old are they?

Well, it’s a little difficult to figure out. According to the Prospect Park South Historic District Designation Report, signs were placed as part of Dean Alvord’s initial plans: “Streets and sidewalks were constructed and cast-iron street signs placed at each corner, one of which still stands on the southeast corner of Albemarle and Marlborough Roads.” Kevin Walsh says on his Forgotten New York site that these “date to the origin of the development in the late 1890s,” but in another post notes that they date to 1905. Brooklyn Borough Historian Ron Schweiger also tells us they date to about 1905.

In addition to these signs, there are a couple of posts in the area that still stand, but lost their signs at some point. Ron also notes that the Marlborough sign fell off its post about 5 or 6 years ago, and that the PPS Neighborhood Association had it fixed. Anyone remember the details about that–how it fell off, and how it got fixed?