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MARKOWITZ CELEBRATES RE-OPENING OF HUNTERFLY ROAD HOUSES AT WEEKSVILLE

	In photo: Borough President Markowitz speaks in front of Weeksville’s Hunterfly Road Houses.
Photograph by Laura Geiser
In photo: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Borough President Marty Markowitz.

On Sunday, June 5, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Society for the Preservation of Weeksville & Bedford Stuyvesant celebrated the grand re-opening of Weeksville’s Hunterfly Road Houses.

“The restored Hunterfly Road Houses of Weeksville stand as a powerful reminder of African-Americans’ central role in Brooklyn, and America’s, history,” said Borough President Markowitz. “Bedford-Stuyvesant and Central Brooklyn were the heart and soul of our nation’s African-American community two centuries ago, just as they are today. Weeksville is a unique destination that allows visitors to experience first-hand Brooklyn’s historic spirit of attaining unity through diversity — bringing it to life in a way that is an inspiration to those of every background. Our visitors will see and understand that the courage and vision that made Weeksville one of America’s first free black communities are the very same qualities that make Brooklyn today as close to the promised land as you can get — and still be around to talk about it.”

Historic Weeksville was a nineteenth century community located in Brooklyn and named for James Weeks, an African American who purchased the land in 1838. Weeksville was home to ministers, teachers and other professionals, including the first female African-American physician in New York State, and the first African-American police officer in New York City. Weeksville had its own schools and churches, an orphanage, and one of the first African-American newspapers, the Freedman's Torchlight. During the violent draft riots of 1863, the community served as a refuge for hundreds of African-Americans who fled Manhattan.