A History of Brooklyn In 20 Objects (“Objects” Being Very Loosely Defined)
16) Prospect Park
Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux—who also designed Central Park, which you might have heard of—Prospect Park was built in 1867, following the completion of Central Park. Prospect Park was built because of a sudden. and spot-on, recognition that the exponential growth that both the city of New York and the city of Brooklyn were experiencing would lead to elimination of green spaces, if the existing green spaces weren’t carefully preserved.
And that’s how you birth a park!
Prospect Park is the largest park in Brooklyn and features Brooklyn’s only lake, (duckweed infested, but still lovely) horseback-riding trails, waterfalls, the first urban Audobon Center, and a small Quaker cemetery where actor Montgomery Clift is buried. Weird! Who knew?