Amersfort/Flatbush/Flatlands/Fraser

Amersfort, Flatbush, Flatlands and Fraser are neighborhoods in the southeast part of the borough. The current neighborhood borders are roughly defined by the Flatbush/Nostrand Avenues Junction to the north, Avenue U to the south, Ralph Avenue to the east, and Flatbush Avenue to the west. Originally an independent town, Flatlands became part of the City of Brooklyn in 1896. Flatlands was originally known as Nieuw Amersfoort, after the Dutch city of Amersfoort, and was established as a farming community in 1636 when Wolfert Gerritse Van Couwenhoven and Andries Hudde purchased 15,000 acres of land centered on what is now the intersection of Kings Highway and Flatbush Avenue. 

Flatlands was given the right to local rule in 1661 by Peter Stuyvesant as one of the five Dutch Towns on Long Island. The town’s growth and development came late, largely due to the lack of a transit system or set of roads connecting it with other parts of Brooklyn. Flatlands is also home to the landmarked Flatlands Dutch Reformed Church, 3931 Kings Highway, originally erected in 1663 as one of three (3) churches established by order of then-Governor Peter Stuyvesant. In the adjacent cemetery, many early Dutch landowners are buried, including the Wyckoffs, Lotts and Voorhees, in addition to native Americans and some of the earliest free blacks in Brooklyn. 

The neighborhoods consist of predominantly one and two-family homes, mid-rise developments, commercial shopping and the Flatlands neighborhood includes Glenwood Houses, a large NYCHA development built in the early 1950’s.