Willowtown Spring Fair in Brooklyn Heights this Saturday

May 12, 2015 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Getting ready for the three-legged race at a previous Willowtown Spring Fair. Photo by Mary Frost

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The Willowtown Association will be hosting its annual spring fair in the south Heights on Saturday, May 16 from noon to 5 p.m. on Willow Place.

Iris Cafe will be providing delicious eats, and the local bluegrass band Five Deadly Venoms will return to keep everyone’s feet stomping.

Other events will include tug-of-war with firefighters from FDNY Engine Co. 224.

The annual event raises money for the Willowtown Association’s community projects, such as tree planting and upkeep, but it’s also a celebration of the continuing existence of the historic enclave at the southwestern edge of Brooklyn Heights.

A self-guided tour points out architectural gems — a number saved — by the efforts of the Willowtown Association and the Brooklyn Heights Association — from Robert Moses’ wrecking ball in the 1950s.

Many of the houses in Willowtown date from the 1840s, including four sharing a continuous portico of tall wooden columns at the southern end of Willow Place, and four clapboard frame and brick houses in “Cottage Row” at the northern end of Columbia Place. The A.T. White Community Center on Willow Place dates from 1867.

Willowtown also boasts “the world’s only Greek Revival subway ventilator” on Joralemon Street and the former Metropolitan Transportation Authority substation on Willow Place.