Ridgewood remained rural until the unification of New York City's boroughs in 1898, even as Bushwick had become fully developed.
Development in Ridgewood in the 19th century consisted mostly of picnicking locations, beer gardens, racetracks, and amusement areas for the residents of Bushwick.
By the end of the century, developers had bought these sites and started constructing rowhouses and tenements, usually two to three stories high.
The Ridgewood Board of Trade, created in 1902, was organized to develop the streets and utilities, and to improve the transit infrastructure.

Much of the housing stock was erected between 1905 and 1915.
Most of the houses built before 1905 were wood-frame houses; that year, a zoning ordinance was passed, requiring new buildings to be made of masonry.
The area was developed more quickly after the Queensboro Bridge opened in 1909, connecting Queens to Manhattan.
According to a 1909 issue of the Real Estate Record and Guide, development was concentrated in an 150-block area around East Williamsburg in Brooklyn, namely the present-day area of Ridgewood.
More than five thousand buildings were built from the beginning of the 20th century to World War I's start in the mid-1910s.
Residential construction predominated in the southern part of Ridgewood while industrial factories and mills were prevalent in the northern section, near Newtown Creek.

Construction slowed down during World War I, but resumed shortly after the war's end, and by the 1930s the last farmland in Ridgewood had been developed.
Some of the later houses were single-family homes with garages.
Two of the more drastic changes to Ridgewood's character in the 1920s were the implementation of a street numbering system across Queens in 1925, followed by the opening of the Canarsie subway on the neighborhood's southern border in 1928.
Ridgewood remained rural until the unification of New York City's boroughs in 1898, even as Bushwick had become fully developed. Development in Ridgewood in the 19th century consisted mostly of picnicking locations, beer gardens, racetracks, and amusement areas for the residents of Bushwick. By the end of the century, developers had bought these sites and started constructing rowhouses and tenements, usually two to three stories high. The Ridgewood Board of Trade, created in 1902, was organized to develop the streets and utilities, and to improve the transit infrastructure.
Much of the housing stock was erected between 1905 and 1915. Most of the houses built before 1905 were wood-frame houses; that year, a zoning ordinance was passed, requiring new buildings to be made of masonry. The area was developed more quickly after the Queensboro Bridge opened in 1909, connecting Queens to Manhattan. According to a 1909 issue of the Real Estate Record and Guide, development was concentrated in an 150-block area around East Williamsburg in Brooklyn, namely the present-day area of Ridgewood. More than five thousand buildings were built from the beginning of the 20th century to World War I's start in the mid-1910s. Residential construction predominated in the southern part of Ridgewood while industrial factories and mills were prevalent in the northern section, near Newtown Creek.
Construction slowed down during World War I, but resumed shortly after the war's end, and by the 1930s the last farmland in Ridgewood had been developed. Some of the later houses were single-family homes with garages. Two of the more drastic changes to Ridgewood's character in the 1920s were the implementation of a street numbering system across Queens in 1925, followed by the opening of the Canarsie subway on the neighborhood's southern border in 1928.
Ridgewood, Queens