The Kings County Elevated Railway opened the line, from dual western terminals at Fulton Ferry and Brooklyn Bridge (Sands Street)[1] east to Nostrand Avenue, on April 24, 1888.

[3] Construction on this line started in the fall of 1885, when ground was broken at the corner of Fulton Street and Red Hook Lane.

[6] The Fulton Elevated Railroad was incorporated on July 6, 1888, to build a disconnected line from Greenpoint south through Williamsburg to Kent and Myrtle Avenues and to extend the Kings County Elevated east beyond Rockaway Avenue to the city line.

The first piece, over Fulton Street and Williams Place, opened on July 4, 1889, connecting with the Long Island Rail Road's Manhattan Crossing station at the new terminal at Atlantic Avenue.

[16] The Kings County Elevated leased the Brooklyn and Brighton Beach Railroad on February 5, 1896.

[20] In 1917, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce started fighting for the removal of the Fulton Street El.

The Public Service Commission received a petition on December 9, 1916, from a large number of civic and business organizations to restrict the third tracking to a point in the vicinity of Cumberland Avenue.