Summer

Thomas, Web Applications

[Summer, Circa 1891, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, N.Y.], circa 1897, v1973.4.1081a,b; Postcard collection, v1973.4; Brooklyn Historical Society. [Summer, Circa 1891, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, N.Y.], circa 1897, v1973.4.1081a,b; Postcard collection, v1973.4; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Monday marked the first official day of summer and the longest day of the year. One of my favorite ways to enjoy the long summer evenings is by visiting Prospect Park. Whether it’s jogging, hiking, reading a book, or going to a concert, there are endless ways to make the most of summer in the park.

With that in mind, the photo of the week depicts people in Prospect Park, near Music Island on the southeastern portion of the lake, sometime around 1897. Music Island got its name from a time when musicians would row out to the island to play concerts to park visitors. One Brooklyn Daily Eagle article from 1887 described a concert on Music Island: “If yesterday’s favorable conditions of breeze and sunshine could be assured for every concert no more delightful place for a band stand could be desired than Music Island. Sunlight, sighing trees, bright dresses and fair forms: sweet strains unmolested by the winds and the soft splash of paddles and graceful glide of boats—all formed a symphony of delights for the senses that were little short of enchantment.”

In 1959, Music Island was removed to make space for Wollman Rink. In 2012, the Lakeside Project was developed to restore the southeast corner of the lake to its original state, as imagined by the park’s designers Olmstead and Vaux. That project included restoring Music Island to a nature preserve.

This photograph is a photographic postcard and is part of the Postcard collection. Brooklyn Historical Society has hundreds of postcards that are organized by neighborhood and subject. Most of our postcards are not currently digitized, but a selection are available online here.

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our Brooklyn Visual Heritage website here. To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Sat, 1:00-5:00 p.m. library@brooklynhistory.org

 

This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.

 

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