Fort Greene Park

1850 - present

Fort Greene Park was originally a pasture and an open space for recreation, until the Continental Army, taking advantage of the hilly land, constructed a fort in the area in 1776. In 1814, the fort was renamed from Fort Putnam to Fort Greene, after a builder of the original fort, Nathanael Greene. Writer Walt Whitman advocated for a public park in the 1840’s, and thus Fort Greene Park, then known as Washington Park, was created by architect Andrew Jackson Downing. In 1867 Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux were hired to rejuvenate the park, and they added curving, looping walking paths, playgrounds, and public spaces for demonstrations. They further created the beginnings of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument, which sits atop the park hill and contains the bodies of Continental army soldiers that died nearby. This monument was finished in the early 1900’s by architects McKim, Mead and White, who also added a visitor’s center. Throughout history, the park has been used as a key community recreation space, inhabited by families, artists, and even famous tennis player Juliette Paxton Atkinson, who learned to play tennis there.

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Details

Category
Playground
Audience
All Ages
Founder(s)
Walt Whitman
Corporate Body
NYC Parks Department
Tags
play, recreation, outdoorrecreation

Location

  • Fort Greene Park Willoughby Ave. &, Washington Park, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
    1850 - present

References

  1. NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. Fort Greene Historic District: Designation Report. September 26, 1978: 6-13. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=9f9542532f3d24f739765e65275f352732a010bb.
  2. Morrone, Francis. Fort Greene, Clinton Hill: neighborhood & architectural history guide. Brooklyn Historical Society, 2010: 20-27.
  3. Hellman, Anne. “A Monumental Ode to Brooklyn: Fort Greene Park.” In Design Brooklyn: Renovation, Restoration, Innovation, Industry. New York: Abrams, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central.