Williamsburg (NY) (Images of America)

There is no New York neighborhood that boasts a richer history or more exciting present than Williamsburg. At first a quiet waterside community, Williamsburg briefly became a wealthy suburb of Manhattan in the middle of the nineteenth century. Heavy industrialization and a tidal wave of immigrants later turned Williamsburg into New YorkÂ’s poorest, most crowded quarter. With images drawn chiefly from the rich photographic collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society, Williamsburg illustrates the neighborhoodÂ’s transformation from one of New YorkÂ’s most impoverished and least fashionable neighborhoods to a modern-day example of the cityÂ’s capacity for self-renewal.