[4] The name "Midwood" derives from the Middle Dutch Midwout (middle woods; Modern Dutch: Midwoud), the name the settlers of New Netherland called the area of dense woodland midway between the towns of Boswyck (Bushwick) and Breuckelen (Brooklyn).

In April 1655, Stuyvesant and the Council of New Netherland appointed Swartwout a schepen (magistrate), to serve with Snedeker and Adriaen Hegeman as the Court of Midwout.

[6] Settlement was begun by the Dutch in 1652;[5][6] they later gave way to the English, who conquered it in 1664, but the area remained rural and undeveloped for the most part until its annexation to the City of Brooklyn in the 1890s.

[13] In 2018, an estimated 22% of Flatbush and Midwood residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City.

Based on this calculation, as of 2018[update], Flatbush and Midwood are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.

In his run for the White House, Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy held a campaign rally just outside Dubrow's Cafeteria.

Years later, his brother Senator Robert F. Kennedy ("Bobby") held a similar campaign rally there for his run for President.

Avenue J is a major business street in Midwood, with many kosher restaurants, deli, pizzerias, and butchers.

Postal Service Midwood station (Zip Code 11230), The Kent Triplex Movie Theater, and other retailers.

[15] Ocean Parkway is a major tree-lined[16] Brooklyn boulevard, largely featuring apartment houses.

Originally built by a local Brooklyn company as the Piccadilly, it was sold prior to opening to Loews Theaters, which changed the name to Avalon.

One of Brooklyn's last remaining farms was located on the site of the apartment complex at 1279 East 17th St. (just north of Ave. M) until it was torn down in the mid-1960s.

Parks include Kolbert Park and the Rachel Haber Cohen Playground and adjacent handball and basketball courts,[23] near Edward R. Murrow High School, and the track and playing fields of Brooklyn College and Midwood High School.

[34] The New York City Fire Department (FDNY)'s Engine Co. 276/Ladder Co. 156/Battalion 33, which serves Midwood, is located at 1635 East 14th Street.

[10]: 11  Flatbush and Midwood has a relatively high population of residents who are uninsured, or who receive healthcare through Medicaid.

[10]: 14 The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Flatbush and Midwood is 0.0077 milligrams per cubic metre (7.7×10−9 oz/cu ft), lower than the citywide and boroughwide averages.

[10]: 9  Ten percent of Flatbush and Midwood residents are smokers, which is slightly lower than the city average of 14%.

[10]: 12 Eighty percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is lower than the city's average of 87%.

In the 1980s and 1990s, a wave of Orthodox Jews moved into the area from Borough Park, attracted by Midwood's large homes and tree-lined streets.

Along Kings Highway from Coney Island to McDonald Avenues are many Middle Eastern style restaurants and take-out food shops.

Midwood is also home to several large orthodox synagogues, including Congregation Beth Torah,[45] the Young Israel of Midwood,[46] Agudas Yisroel Bais Binyomin of Avenue L,[47] Congregation Talmud Torah of Flatbush,[48] Beis Medrash Ahavas Dovid Apsha under the leadership of Rabbi Shmuel Dovid Beck Shlita - The Apsha Rav, the minyan factory[49] known as Landau's Shul (offering minyanim every 15 minutes on an average day[50]), Rabbi Avraham Schorr's former synagogue, known as Khal Tiferes Yaakov on East 15th Street and Avenue L, the Bostoner Rebbe on Avenue J, Steinwurtzels, the Young Israel of Avenue J,[51] the Agudah of Midwood, and several Syrian Orthodox synagogues.

In November 2009, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, a beneficiary agency of the UJA-Federation of New York, partnered with Masbia to open a kosher soup kitchen on Coney Island Avenue.

St. Brendan's Parish and Our Lady Help of Christians are two Roman Catholic Church congregations located in Midwood.

[54] Flatbush and Midwood generally has a similar ratio of college-educated residents to the rest of the city as of 2018[update].

[55] Flatbush and Midwood's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is about equal to the rest of New York City.

The Brooklyn Historical Society and the Museum of the Moving Image (Astoria, New York) have collections on the Vitagraph Studios.

An old vintage aerial photograph of the Vitagraph complex (and its streets) hangs today on a wall in the offices of the Midwood Development Corporation.

The Vitagraph Studios were later featured in a New York Times Article (2007), and in the PBS, WNET-13 TV Special 'A Walk Through Brooklyn,' hosted by David Hartman and historian Barry Lewis.

Old historic photographs of the studio show that part of it also existed across the Brighton line subway tracks where Edward R. Murrow High School now stands.

[citation needed] A duplicate of the white suit Travolta wore in the film was at that time displayed in one of the showcase windows.