Maps, Maps, Maps

For those who haven't seen these maps before, this here link is an excellent place to bone up on your Flatbush history - the Brooklyn Historical Society's slide show of Flatbush's transition from village to suburb to today (still a suburb? you bet, and SO much more). Two things strike the Q on my latest viewing of these...one, Rutland Road was known as Tulip well into the 20th Century. Eventually, the couple of blocks nearest the park known as Tulip became an extension of Rutland as we know and love her today.

The other is the simple fact that what is known as Flatbush, or the HEART of Flatbush, has shifted in public imagination ever since the advent of the Prospect Lefferts Gardens name in the late '60s. It is hard to find a map of Flatbush before then that focuses on the area that we now associate with the name - the ever embiggening nabe known to newcomers as "Ditmas Park" In other words, for oil intents and porpoises, PLG WAS Flatbush, home to the original gentry of the town (note that there were Vanderbilts living near what is now the Q/B line).

Others will be surprised to see that Parkside was known as Franklin Ave. Others will care not, but those folks, who make up the vast majority of the English speaking world, are not readers of this blog. Lately there's been an uptick in the number of readers of the Q, which I can only ascribe to a) lack of employment, b) Brownstoner's more ardent interest and linkage, c) the dearth of info on the area, or d) the fact that I wrote a piece on the NY Giants opening a gyro shop on Parkside, a satirical muse that has generated a large number of confused eyes who are searching for food options on their smartphones while attending Giants games. I've noticed a spike in traffic to that post on homegame Sundays!

Perhaps I should write a piece of gossip on Lindsay Lohan and watch my numbers go through the roof.