Flatbush

Book excerpt: The cultural and ethnic flavors of Flatbush, Brooklyn have changed over these many years, from seventeenth-century Dutch to eastern European and Jewish, and the present Caribbean influence. Over time, small, rich farms run by Patrician families gave way to the dignified garden homes of Victorian Flatbush when the economy could no longer support farming. Through annexation by Brooklyn, development of the railroad and trolleys (which inspired the name of baseball's famed Trolley Dodgers), and the drain of suburban flight, Flatbush residents actively sought to keep their town a place to call home.