Every Fourth of July not so long ago, the night sky in Carroll Gardens, New York was illuminated with fireworks that thundered like a war zone and filled the streets with smoke as rival blocks competed for the best Independence Day display. In the 1990s, Mayor Rudy Giuliani put an end to that practice for reasons of public safety, but for old-timers it was one more indication that gentrification had caught up with the community.

Irish immigrants were the first to settle in Carroll Gardens in the early 19th Century, but from the late 19th Century to the 1950s the neighborhood became a destination for Italian immigrants. For more than 100 years the community was primarily working class, and large numbers of residents worked in industries along the Red Hook waterfront, Gowanus Canal, or in the Brooklyn Navy Yard until the1950s.

Carroll Gardens is nestled in a residential enclave and removed from major thoroughfares, which is perhaps why it still retains some of its Old World charm as illustrated by the number of yards decorated with religious shrines and statues, its Good Friday processions, and the number of Italian restaurants and bakeries in operation. In recent decades, however, the quiet, tree-lined streets, spacious front yards, and gracious brownstones of Carroll Gardens have attracted young professionals and their families. Some condominiums also are available.

The first homes in Carroll Gardens, New York were built in 1846, the brownstones with gardens between 1869 and 1884, and in 1973 a section of the neighborhood was named a historic district. Originally considered just another section of a large area called South Brooklyn, which also included Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, and Red Hook, or as part of Red Hook, Carroll Gardens finally received its own identity and name in the 1960s.