Renamed Prospect Avenue in 1868, when Prospect Park was created; formerly Middle Street.
Middle Street was laid out on the Commissioners Plan of 1839. An 1865 attempt to rename it Sterling Street, possibly for Lord Stirling, was vetoed by Mayor Alfred M. Wood. The new Prospect Park needed more access, so in 1868 the New York Legislature passed an act to improve the street, widen it from 60 to 80 feet and rename it Prospect Avenue.