75th Police Precinct Station House
Also known as: Peoples' First Baptist Church
Why it's listed
Built in 1886 at the corner of Liberty and Miller Avenues in Brooklyn's Cypress Hills, this former police precinct station house was designed by Emile M. Gruwé in the Romanesque Revival style. Yellow brick rises above a brown sandstone foundation, with a round corner tower, round-arched windows, and a prominent arched entrance carved with a lion's head and animal corbels. A wrought iron fence from 1886 survives, and a 1926 garage block stands to the west. The building matters as an example of the fortress-like station houses Brooklyn erected in the late nineteenth century to project civic strength and authority. Gruwé also designed a nearly identical mirror-image twin for the 68th Precinct. The police left in 1973, after which a church converted the interior for worship and the garage into a parsonage. Although deteriorated, the interior largely keeps its original room divisions and finishes, and the station is one of four of its type known to survive in Brooklyn.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues it is a distinctive example of Romanesque Revival municipal architecture in Brooklyn under Criterion C. Its fortress-like forms, corner tower and medieval detailing conveyed strength and authority in a labor-class neighborhood. It is one of four such station houses known to survive in Brooklyn.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 07000952, listed September 10, 2007. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 484 Liberty Ave., Brooklyn |
|---|---|
| County | Brooklyn |
| Listed | September 10, 2007 |
| Reference number | 07000952 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1886 |
| Architect / builder | Gruwé, Emile M. |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian/Romanesque Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Vacated by the Police Department in 1973 and acquired by a church, which converted the interior to church use and the garage to a parsonage. The interior is deteriorated but largely intact. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 40.67490, -73.89221 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 07000952.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4643460
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.