Crown Heights History: Pigtown 1923

This series on The History of Crown Heights has been compiled by Instagram account @historyofcrownheights, run by a born and raised Crown Heightser, and shows some of the ongoing research taking place.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the neighborhood south of Crown Heights was known as “Pigtown.” The boundaries were roughly Malbone St. (today Empire Blvd.), Midwood St., Albany Ave, and Nostrand Ave. Primarily inhabited by a small population of mostly low-income Italians and Irish.

Another name for the district that appears in early articles and maps is “Oaklands”, but Pigtown
seems to have suited the character of the place rather better. It wasn’t uncommon to see goats running around. But a defining characteristic of the neighborhood was its pigs. In fact, in 1888, it was estimated that there were well over a thousand pigs in the area.

Pigtown was quite a rough place. With some notable criminal personalities and their exploits often making the headlines. The neighborhood was mostly neglected with many of the old images showing tracts of wasteland, ash dumps, garbage piles, stark new dwellings fronting empty blocks defined by crudely laid out streets, and a few scattered holdout Shanties.

However, in the 1920s significant changes began to take place. The Crow Hill penitentiary was removed, and the construction of the subway initiated a surge in development plans for the area. The neighborhood started to undergo a transformation that ultimately shaped its present-day form. While attempts were made to rename the area as Crown Slope, the name failed to gain traction among resident.

(Personal Note: I met a 96 yo Jewish man who grew up on empire & Nostrand. He told me that growing up in that area “the Jews lived in the buildings, and the Italians lived in the houses. Once in a while, the Italians and the Jews would get together to fight, and the Jews always lost”. This was way after Pigtown became part of Crown Heights, but we would need to do more research to see if Italians stayed after the development or did new Italians come in. I’ve also heard that the people who built subway lived in that area, but I would need to confirm that as well. Just like we uncovered so much about Crown Heights I am sure there is much to uncover about our neighbor to the South Pigtown.)