The first instance of European habitation in the Old Brooklyn vicinity occurred in 1790, when fur trader Joseph Du Shattar established a trading post on the west bank of the Cuyahoga River, across from the area that became Newburgh.

[3] Originally a portion of Brooklyn Township, the area was settled permanently in 1814 as the hamlet of Brighton,[4] centered at the present-day intersection of Pearl and Broadview Roads.

The original Honey Hut ice cream shop, a favorite of many West-siders, can be found on State Road near the south end of the community.

[7] On October 10, 1915, a reported crowd of 115,000 sprawled along and below the park's northern bluff, directly west of today's Fulton Road Bridge, and cheered as the home team seized the day.

[8][9] Other notable landmarks include the Brooklyn-Brighton Bridge, the Estabrook Recreation Center, and the Italian Gothic-style Our Lady of Good Counsel Church (now called Mary Queen of Peace)[10] atop Pearl Road Hill.

The neighborhood's secondary students generally attend James Ford Rhodes High School, whose graduates include 1944 Heisman Trophy winner Les Horvath, anti-establishment poet D. A.