Discovering Brooklyn: Park Slope

Prior to the vision of investor, railroad mogul and founder of the Brooklyn Improvement Company, Edwin C. Litchfield, the creation of Prospect Park and the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, the neighborhood of Park Slope was simply a farmland.

Picture this! The year is 1858 and General Egbert L. Viele, who had been the original chief engineer for Manhattan’s Central Park is dinning at the Litchfield mansion. The extraordinary thirty room Italianate villa with carriage houses and stables stood on high ground on what is now the east side of Prospect Park West between 4th and 5th streets.

Edwin C. Litchfield who owned the villa and about two hundred acres, had begun building up vacant land in the area. Viele looked around strategically at the property and suggested to Litchfield that the magnificent wooded slopes surrounding his house would make an ideal park for the people.

Litchfield agreed and soon began garnering political support for this exciting endeavor. However, the attack by the South at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 which marked the beginning of the Civil War put a temporary halt to that project. Viele’s proposed plan for a Mount Prospect Park was tabled as he volunteered to command the troops.

In 1865 the park’s design was handed over to British architect Calvert Vaux who had worked on Central Park with partner Frederick Law Olmsted. Together again, they created a better product, a 526 acre masterpiece that brought many people into the neighborhood.

Then a few years later on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge opened to the public. This awesome suspension bridge over the East River connected the City of New York to the City of Brooklyn and helped to rapidly transform Brooklyn and dramatically increase Park Slope’s population.

According to City-Data, the population of Park Slope is 43,918 and residents today are primarily white with a median household income of $98,213. Initially the Lenapes lived here in villages. In the 17th century the Dutch colonized the area using it for farming. Wealthy English families settled along the park and later Italian and Irish immigrants migrated to the Park Slope. By the 1930’s Black and Hispanics were moving in.

Park Slope geographically slopes from Prospect Park down to the Gowanus Canal and has Prospect Heights above it, Prospect Park and Windsor Terrace to its right, Boerum Hill and Gowanus to its left, and below it are the neighborhood of Sunset Park and Greenwood Cemetery.

As you walk around this neighborhood from 5th Avenue to Prospect Park West look at the variety of extremely beautiful homes, exquisite mansions, historic churches, and interesting shops. Visit Temple Beth Elohim, the acclaimed Berkely-Carroll School, and the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.
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Stop at 22 8th Avenue between St. John’s and Lincoln Place. This was the home of William Jay Gaynor (1849-1913) Mayor of the City of New York. According to The Big Onion Guide to Brooklyn written by Seth Kamil and Eric Wakin, “A remarkable character, Gaynor daily braved the elements to walk the four miles down Flatbush Avenue and over the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall.”

Another must see building is the Montauk Club. This fabulous Venetian Gothic located at 25 8th Avenue was an exclusive club that hosted several presidents and dignitaries.

Walk over to 336 3rd Street between 4th and 5th Avenues. You will find a replica of a 17th century Dutch farmhouse surround by Washington Park. The Old Stone House today is a museum and community resource exploring the American Revolution and colonial life of Brooklyn. Enjoy the interesting and interactive daily planned programming. While at the Old Stone House walk around Washington Park, the park where the Dodgers, played before moving to Ebbets Field.

Take a walk down 7th Avenue on Sterling Place. On December 16, 1960 a United Airlines DC-8 collided with another plane in the air crashing here in Park Slope. The horrific accident demolished buildings including the Pillar Of Fire Church and killed all 128 passengers from both planes and six people on the street.

As you are discovering Park Slope, you will notice many very interesting shops. One such store is Annie’s Blue Ribbon General at 232 5th Avenue. It has “compulsively giftable merch that prioritized design,” writes New York Magazine.

OM Gift Shop located at 152 5th Avenue sells gifts for mind, body, & soul. It is a quaint shop with a variety of crystals, minerals, jewelry, essential oils, and more.

In keeping with aligning one’s mind, body, and spirit check out Inner Fire’s Brooklyn location at 71 8th Avenue. Diane Paxton MS, LAc Principal of Inner Fire Integrative Health Services wants to help others remain healthy or regain health with colon hydrotherapy, acupuncture, Chinese herbs and Nutrition Response Testing. For more information visit Innerfirehealth.com.

Now it’s time to eat. Park Slope has a number of great restaurants and eateries that will delight just about any palette. However, OurBKSocial selected al di la Trattoria at 248 5th Avenue. Chef Anna Klinger creates sumptuous Northern Italian meals that will have you coming back again and again.

Before meeting you next month in Prospect Heights, OurBKSocial reminds you that it is Discovering Brooklyn Contest Time with fabulous prizes from BCakeNY, Elberta Resturant and Brooklyn Flavors! For details CLICK HERE.