Montague Street was once the principal commercial artery of the independent city of Brooklyn, and it remains the commercial heart of Brooklyn Heights to this day, historian and archivist Martha Foley told the crowd at the annual meeting of the Montague Street BID on Feb. 28.

Attendees gathered at the BID’s office at 129 Montague St., which is provided to the organization rent-free by the Brown Harris Stevens real estate firm.

The meeting was opened by BID Executive Director Kate Chura, who introduced Foley as the featured speaker. Foley has been a resident of Brooklyn Heights and Montague Street since 1991 and a volunteer at the historic Brooklyn Women’s Exchange for many years.

Foley began by showing a series of slides that illustrated the development of Montague Street and nearby blocks of Court Street through the years. She noted that before its merger with New York City in 1896, Brooklyn had been the third largest city in the U.S., following New York and Philadelphia, and Montague Street was its principal commercial artery.

The opening of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade in 1950 and 1951, in her words, “changed the dynamic,” as tourists leaving the subway stations at the east end of Montague Street walked its length to get to the Promenade and its spectacular views.

She also noted that being on or near Montague Street throughout its history was essential to the success of the Brooklyn Women’s Exchange. Founded in 1854 as the Brooklyn Female Employment Society at a time of economic depression, its initial purpose was to provide a source of income for women skilled in needlework. During the Civil War the women of the Society made garments and blanket rolls for soldiers.

Over the succeeding years, what is now the Exchange has gone through several mergers and changes of name and has evolved into a store to which artists and crafters may consign their works, ranging from clothes to household goods, toys, books and foodstuffs. It took the name Brooklyn Women’s Exchange in 1939 and is now the oldest women’s exchange in the U.S. Over the last seventy years, the Exchange has been located at 76 Montague St. (1953-1980), 55 Pierrepont St. (1980-2022) and since 2022 at 137 Montague St.

Exchange President Emily Everhart noted that the organization now has about 300 crafters who consign their works to the shop and 35 to 40 active volunteers. She saluted the many new businesses that have emerged on Montague over the past few years.

City Councilmember Lincoln Restler also appeared at the meeting, saying these are “exciting times” on Montague Street, noting the number of new businesses that have sprouted there.

He thanked property owners like the Calfa brothers, owners of Lassen & Hennigs, who had made space available to the Women’s Exchange. Finally, he said he wants to help small businesses navigate the often difficult city bureaucracy to achieve their goals.