A major blow to the character of Clinton Hill came in the 1940s when two complete blocks of houses were torn down and replaced by high-rise housing erected for employees at the nearby Brooklyn Navy Yard. Among the houses torn down were those of Herbert Pratt, Charles Pratt’s partners Edward T. and Alfred C. Bedford, department store magnate H.L. Batterman, and homes designed by George B. Post, Grosvenor Atterbury, and Montrose Morris.