Brooklyn Lyceum

The non-profit Brooklyn Lyceum organization was formed on October 10, 1833 with the goal of providing "rational amusement, to promote the intellectual and moral improvement of its members, and especially the interests of the young; also to improve the condition of schools, and advance the cause of popular education.

"[1] The organization began with a series of lectures in November 1833 which were held at Theodore Eames and Samuel Putnam's Brooklynn English and Classical Hall;[2] a boys' school built by Eames and Putnam on Washington Ave. that opened in March 1831.

[3] With funds largely provided by the philanthropist Josiah Dow (1782-1850), the organization placed the cornerstone of their own building, also known as the Brooklyn Lyceum, on October 31, 1835.

[4] Located at 182-184 Washington Street,[5] the building was built at the intersection of Washington and Concord Streets on the opposite corner from the English and Classical Hall where the Brooklyn Lyceum originally held it meetings.

It remained active until 1851 when its collection was divided between the Youth's Free Library (also located inside the Brooklyn Lyceum) and the Long Island Historical Society.