History of Officer's Row
Officer’s Row, also known as Admiral’s Row, is a small section of the Brooklyn Navy Yard that was home to high-ranking officers and their families. The ten houses (six buildings) were built between 1864 and 1901. Surrounded by a high brick wall and iron gates, Officer's Row was a small piece of beauty amidst a bustling industrial neighborhood. It housed tennis courts, a stable-turned ice skating rink, and parade grounds. Several varieties of fruit trees and a communal vegetable garden could be found dotting the landscape.

Though the Navy Yard was decommissioned in 1966, families were still based there through the late 1970's. In 2001, the last of the Brooklyn Navy Yard was signed over to the city to serve as an industrial park, with one exception: Officer's Row. Still under the jurisdiction of the Army Corps of Engineers, this small section of history still stands, abandoned and crumbling, as a fading memory of navy family life.

Project Description
The Officer's Row Project is designed to document and preserve the history of the officers’ quarters of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, otherwise known as Admiral’s Row, through the process of oral history and urban memory.

We have spent the past three and a half years documenting the history of the houses of Officer's (Admiral's) Row, located within the walls of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. This has included photodocumentation of the exteriors, interiors and grounds, as well as interviews with families who lived within the houses.

As the most recent part of this process, we have embarked on an oral history project (AROH - Admiral's Row Oral History) with the goal of interviewing preservationists, activists, community members, elected officials and business/development leaders who have been active in the debate over the future of the buildings and land.

Who We Are
The Officer's Row Project is a husband and wife team.

Alexis Robie is a nonfiction television producer. He received his B.A. in Theater from Brown University and his M.S. from the Columbia University School of Journalism.

Corie Trancho-Robie is a social historian. She received her B.A. in Education and Child Study from Smith College and is currently pursuing her M.A. in American Studies at Columbia University.

Either can be contacted at officersrow@gmail.com.