Smith-9th Street Station

[View of portion of Smith-9th Street Station (IND).], 1958, v1974.4.1131; John D. Morrell photographs, v1974.4; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Do you live off the Smith-9^th Street station? The photo of the week depicts the snow-covered station located in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, in December 1958. The station opened in 1933 and closed for two years during massive renovations between 2011 and 2013. The elevated station is 87.5 feet high and is considered the highest above-ground subway station in the world.

This photograph comes from the John D. Morrell photographs collection comprised of roughly 2,000 black and white and color negative prints and photographs. John D. Morrell was an assistant librarian at Long Island Historical Society (now Brooklyn Historical Society) for many years and documented nearly ever Brooklyn neighborhood between 1957 and 1974. Lucky for us, Morrell provided descriptions of each photograph, and now the photographs are fully digitized and available online. If you’re interested in Brooklyn housing and building research, be sure to check out this rich collection.

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our Brooklyn Visual Heritage website here. To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Sat, 1:00-5:00 p.m. library@brooklynhistory.org