{"nrhp_refnum":"80002630","name":"Brooklyn Borough Hall","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"209 Joralemon St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Brooklyn","state":"NY","lat":40.69286434500003,"lon":-73.99027832799999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-01-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Law","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Greek Revival municipal building at 209 Joralemon Street in downtown Brooklyn, New York, built in 1851 to a design by Gamaliel King. It first served as Brooklyn's City Hall and later became its Borough Hall.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of New York's finest Greek Revival buildings, notable for its symmetry, temple form with portico, and beautiful proportions. It is the oldest public building in Brooklyn and has housed the borough's seat of government for more than a century. It also expresses the civic pride of the emerging City of Brooklyn.","narrative":"Brooklyn Borough Hall occupies a triangular block at Fulton, Court and Joralemon Streets in downtown Brooklyn. Completed in 1851 to a design by Gamaliel King, a local carpenter, it is a masonry Greek Revival building measuring 175 by 100 feet, with a six-column Ionic portico, pilasters along the sides and a domed clock cupola added in 1897 after a fire destroyed the wooden original. Construction began in the 1830s on a grander plan but halted during the economic depression, and a scaled-down design replaced it. Built as City Hall to hold all municipal departments, the courts and a jail, it became the Borough President's seat after Brooklyn joined New York City in 1898. Interiors were heavily altered, though the original axial plan survives. It is regarded as the oldest public building in Brooklyn and an outstanding example of its style, and it anchors the surrounding civic center.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Gamaliel King","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in good condition; used for government offices, hearing rooms and courtrooms, with extensive interior alterations after a 1897 fire.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.318435-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002630.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002630/be68c239a9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002630/be68c239a9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Ad Meskens","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Borough_Hall_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ad Meskens</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Borough_Hall_01.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318329","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Borough_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q929403"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-borough-hall-80002630/"}