Finding Prospect Park: A Historic Walking Tour

Prospect Park

Brooklyn, New York

Tickets Here ($20/$15)

Join the Victorian Society of New York and Historic Districts Council for a tour through the northern half of Prospect Park, Olmsted and Vaux’s masterpiece. A brief introduction to the park’s history and design will be provided while will investigate lost rustic and picturesque shelters and bridges, the marvelous “electric fountain,” the mysterious “Culvert Arch,” the park’s “Dairy,” the “braiding of the ways,” the still present but deteriorating Litchfield Villa, the circular yacht, and other sites and features of the original park. The main focus of the tour will be discovering lost features and why their loss matters. Some of these features are gone without a trace; others remain only as archaeological remnants. Some are largely intact but have been “lost” to the public for other reasons.

Your tour guide is VSNY’s own Jeremy Woodoff, who chairs our Preservation Committee. Jeremy is a city planner and historic preservationist currently serving on the Advisory Board of the Historic Districts Council as well as the VSNY Board, both of which are sponsoring this tour. During his 20-year employment at the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, Jeremy was responsible for setting up the Commission’s review procedures for work in scenic landmarks like Prospect Park and for reviewing all work proposed for the park by the Parks Department and the Prospect Park Alliance.

For those who register, a QR code will be available that will allow you to download a series of historic images to use on your cell phone or tablet during the tour. The tour leader will have a set of images that can be viewed as well.

📷 Prospect Park. Photo by Elizabeth Keegin Colley. Courtesy of Prospect Park Alliance.

📷 Rustic Bench and Drinking Fountain, the Midwood near the Dairy, Prospect Park Concerts Programme Brochure, 1897 season. Center for Brooklyn History.

📷 Jeremy Woodoff. Courtesy of Jeremy Woodoff.