Autumn Avenue

[East side of Autumn Avenue.], 1963, v1974.4.2009; John D. Morrell photographs, ARC.005; Brooklyn Historical Society.

By now, it should come as no surprise that while it was in the balmy 90s last week, it has now dropped to the frigid 50s as we exit our apartments in the morning and barely into the mild 70s by midday.  As someone who is clearly affected by the change of seasons, I am therefore thinking about the coming of Autumn; my favorite season due to the rich colors and foods which it accompanies.

When I went looking for a photograph for this week, I came upon this one.  Though it was taken on September 8, 1963 there is nothing particularly autumnal about the photograph.  However, it was taken on Autumn Avenue, a street I had no idea existed.  It’s a relatively brief street that runs from Jamaica Avenue and ends in a u-turn near what seems to be a big parking lot for the MTA or the post office.   The street has everything an urban street needs: a park, basketball courts, a school, apartments and single-family homes.  Incidentally, it’s located in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Cypress Hills, just 5 blocks from the Queens County line.  The neighborhood grew from rural farm land into a more developed settlement following the construction of the Union Course racetrack across the border in Queens and the arrival of the Great Eastern Railroad in the early 1800s.  It was annexed to the City of Brooklyn in 1886 within the town of New Lots and development exploded to what it is today.

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