The center's Romanesque Revival building, located at Pierrepont and Clinton Streets in Brooklyn Heights, was designed by George B.

The CBH houses materials relating to the history of Brooklyn and its people, and hosts exhibitions which draw over 9,000 members a year.

The building's design utilizes terra cotta ornamentation made by the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company,[2] and has architectural sculptures by Olin Levi Warner,[18] including busts of Michelangelo, Beethoven, Gutenberg, Shakespeare, Columbus, Benjamin Franklin, a Viking and a Native American.

[4][19][20] In October 1999, BHS began a full-scale restoration of the building, supervised by architect Jan Hird Pokorny,[18] and reopened in 2003.

CBH's education programs largely focus on the ability of students to “read” primary source documents, including works of art, maps, photographs, and other artifacts.

These installations rotate over time, providing visitors with greater access to CBH's fine arts collections.

The Center for Brooklyn History possesses a collection of historical maps spanning the years ca.