Historical Note
The first school to be chartered by New York State, Erasmus Hall Academy was founded as a private school in 1786 by Dutch settlers in the town of Flatbush in Kings County (the present-day borough of Brooklyn). The Academy's original building was built on land donated by the Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church the following year. The Academy was deeded to the City of Brooklyn in 1896, after which it became a public high school named Erasmus Hall High School. From 1905 to 1939, four adjoining buildings were constructed for the school around a central courtyard, and the school's original building underwent restorations in 1936, 1952, and 1987. As of 2011, the school continues to be a part of New York City's public school system, and is located at 911 Flatbush Avenue. It is now the second-oldest public high school in the United States.
Sources:
- Taylor, B. Kimberly. "Erasmus Hall High School and Academy of the Arts," in The Encyclopedia of New York City, ed. Kenneth T. Jackson (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press; New York: New York Historical Society, c1995), 382.