State Street Houses

Twenty-three row houses line State Street between Hoyt and Smith Streets in downtown Brooklyn, forming a continuous streetscape of brick and brownstone. Eighteen stand on the south side, built from 1847 to the mid-1870s, with Greek Revival and Italianate details; the earliest eight, from 1847-48, show the strongest Greek Revival character. The five on the north side, Nos. 291-299, were built as a nearly identical group in a late Italianate style by local builder Michael Murray, who bought the land from William Schermerhorn. The houses were built for merchants and professionals, many working near Wall Street or the Fulton Street ferry, in the Boerum Hill area. Most keep their original cast-iron stoop and areaway railings. Surrounded by commercial buildings and parking lots, the block remains residential. It was listed as a reminder of the many substantial middle-class row houses that once filled the area, and for the coherence of its facades.