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.