From Borough Hall walk down Montague Street, turn right into Henry Street and continue until you reach Orange Street, where we turn left, walk across Hicks Street and visit the most famous of all churches in the Heights, the Plymouth Church of Pilgrims, a Congregational Church steeped in tradition. Its first pastor, Henry Ward Beecher, was a prominent anti-slavery crusader (his sister wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin"). The church was part of the underground railroad, the secretive network of people who helped slaves escape to the North and Canada. The spartan yet classical New England interior of the church, the undergound passageways and a piece of the Plymouth rock are the attractions here (tours are available by appointment only - check their website).
Beecher's adultery trial in 1875 - he was accused of having an affair with Elizabeth Tilden, a parishoner and married woman - was one of the most famous trials of the 19th century, the "Beecher-Tilton Affair". Beecher was exonerated and Elizabeth Tilden was excommunicated by the church - those were the times! Her grave in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn is marked "Grandmother" in order to avoid visits by the curious to her grave.
Continue north on Hicks Street until you reach Middagh Street. Take a look at some of the oldest houses in the Heights. There are a number of Federal style houses from the 1820s and 1830s. This is the first area in Brooklyn, where farmland was divided up into 25 by 100 ft lots as it was closest to the ferry to Manhattan at Fulton Ferry Landing. By the way, the names of some of the old landowners are preserved in the street names or parks of Brooklyn Heights: Hicks, Middagh, Pierrepont, Remsen and Vorhees. The best preserved Federal style house is at No.24 Middagh Street (corner Willow St.). With its light gray clapboard siding, beautiful doorway with leaded glass sidelights and top light and a steeply pitched roof with dormer windows it looks like it belongs to a New England village. The other wooden houses on Middagh street are also from the 1820s but have been modified from its original Federal style.
Turn into Willow Street and walk south on one of the nicest and quaintest streets of the Heights. Nos. 20-26 Willow Street are four handsome Greek Revival style row houses with the original front fences and stoop railings. Walking south on Willow Street explore the sidestreets: Cranberry, Orange, Pineapple and Clark Street. At every intersection you see on the right side the skyline of Lower Manhattan; an interesting contrast, the 19th and early 20th century architecture in the Heights and the modern skyscrapers on the other side of the East River.
Turn right into Cranberry Street: The film "Moonstruck" used the house 19 Cranberry Street as one of the main locations. It is currently (12/2006) on the market for about $ 5 million. Another favorite of ours is the store front of Browning Frames & Prints. 37 Willow Street is an early example of an apartment house. It was built in 1886 in the then popular Queen Anne style. Note the high bay window with its classical sways and small broken pediment.
Further south is 57 Willow Street, a 1824 Federal style house at the northeast corner of Orange Street. Note the stone blocks set into the corner between the first and second floor: "Orange" on one side and "Willow" on the other side. 70 Willow Street is a uncommon wide Greek Revival style house dating from 1839. The huge Venetian syle building on your left side is the former Leverich Towers Hotel, today a residence hall for the Jehova Witnesses.
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