It is to be noted that the Court House was constructed within the sum appropriated. Its manner of construction is in striking contrast to the methods pursued in New York. It stands to-day a monument to the integrity and capacity of the Board of Supervisors, and all in any wise concerned in its construction. The building was finished in February, 1865, and thrown open to public inspection on the evenings of February 28 and March 1, 1865.[34] CHAPTER XIII BROOKLYN AFTER THE WAR 1866-1876 Administration of Samuel Booth. Metropolitan Sanitary District created. Cholera. Erie Basin Docks. The County Institutions and their Work. The Gowanus Canal and the Wallabout Improvement. The Department of Survey and Inspection of Buildings. Establishing Fire Limits. Building Regulations. Prospect Park. The Ocean Parkway. The Fire Department. The Public Schools. The East River Bridge. Early Discussion of the Great Enterprise. The Construction begun. Death of Roebling. The Ferries. Messages of Mayor Kalbfleisch. Erection of a Brooklyn Department of Police. Samuel S. Powell again Mayor. A New City Charter. Movement toward Consolidation with New York. Henry Ward Beecher. Frederick A. Schroeder elected Mayor. When Samuel Booth entered the office of Mayor in 1866, the city of Brooklyn, in common with other communities throughout the country, was suffering from the results of the strain imposed by the war and its resulting incidents; and the fact that his own party was in the minority in the Board of Aldermen did not lighten the burden of the Mayor. Notwithstanding these political conditions no veto by Booth was overridden by the Board. In February of this year the Legislature created a metropolitan sanitary district corresponding to the metropolitan police district, and a board of health composed of the police commissioners, four sanitary commissioners, and the health officer of the port of New York. Brooklyn was represented in this board by Dr. James Crane, as sanitary commissioner, and T. G. Bergen as police commissioner. Dr. John T. Conkling was made assistant sanitary superintendent, and Dr. R. Cresson Stiles was made deputy registrar of vital statistics for Brooklyn. To this force six sanitary inspectors were added.