Owl's Head Park and the Bliss Mansion therein, 1929. The house seen here at the edge of Owl's Head Park was built pre-1850 by Henry C. Murphy. Murphy was a Brooklyn native and career politician who served as Mayor of Brooklyn, U.S. Representative, U.S. Minister to the Hague, and New York State Senator. It was during his tenure as State Senator that he drafted and signed the bill which authorized the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. He also founded and was an editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. The home was purchased in 1866 by Eliphalet W. Bliss, the manufacturer whose huge factory was located in Brooklyn Heights/DUMBO. Bliss died in 1903 and in his will he offered his million-dollar property to the city for the low price of $835,000 with the stipulation that it would be used solely for parkland. The area became an official park in 1928, though the mansion, stables, and other estate buildings were not fully demolished until 1940.

Muspratt Mansion, 1931.

Bliss Castle Bliss Castle was built by Eliphalet Williams Bliss, a wealthy industrialist who lived in Bay Ridge in the mid 19th Century. He bought the 26 acres of land that Bliss Castle stood on in 1866 from a former Mayor of Brooklyn. He renovated an existing mansion but added a number of architectural features including the observatory tower (which was called Bliss Castle.) Upon his death, he willed his estate to the city and it is now Owl's Head Park.

The American Veterans Memorial Pier is formerly known as the 69th Street Pier. Originally, a modest wooden pier drew fishermen from all over to try their luck at the Bay Ridge Anchorage. Today, the area is still a popular fishing spot, boasting views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. The pier was rebuilt in concrete in the 1970s and updated again in the 1990s. Ferries have been a quintessential part of the pier's livelihood, toting Brooklynites to Staten Island (prior to the construction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge) and Lower Manhattan.

Barkaloo Cemetery, 1966. The Barkaloo Cemetery is Brooklyn's smallest burial ground. The Barkaloo family were early Dutch settlers of the area and established their private graveyard in 1725. According to a marker (placed in the mid 20th century), the land is the final resting place of at least 21 people, including Revolutionary War soldiers Simon Cortelyou and Harmans Barkaloo. Its most recent burial dates to 1848! Helpfully perhaps, the tiny graveyard seemed to be mostly forgotten for decades around the turn of the 20th century. While Bay Ridge grew around it, the plot remained, though losing headstones to theft and deterioration. It was surveyed in 1916, and a 1923 article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted its shrinkage: "As the years went by…it grew smaller. By dead of night sometimes, sometimes by noonday’s glare, laborers came and emptied the graves of their ashes and then closed in the plot by making its circumferential fence a bit smaller." In 1923 the Daughters of the American Revolution got involved, cleaning out the plot and placing markers for the two Revolutionary War veterans. (Research suggests that the DAR actually re-creating the graveyard on nearby available space, not necessarily the historical outline of the plot.) Today the small plot remains well kept behind an iron fence, tucked up to the back side of the large Xaverian High School.

Before Owl’s Head Park, this property was the estate of Henry Cruse Murphy, Mayor of Brooklyn, U.S. Congressman, New York State Senator and founder of The Brooklyn Eagle. In 1866, he met other politicians here to formulate the agreement for the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. In that same year, he sold the estate to Eliphalet W. Bliss, a wealthy pressed metal manufacturer. Bliss constructed stables and an observatory tower, and upon his death in 1903, willed the estate to the city for use as a park. Locally the park is still referred to as Bliss Park. Its buildings were left to deteriorate and were all demolished before 1940. In 1994, the park was restored and an equestrian-themed playground was installed on the site of the stables.

Located in the Brooklyn neighborhood previously known as Yellow Hook (today Bay Ridge), Owl’s Head Park is tucked along the water in the neighborhood’s northern most section, offering spectacular views of the bay and nearby New Jersey.

Owl's Head Park Located in the Brooklyn neighborhood previously known as Yellow Hook (today Bay Ridge), Owl’s Head Park is tucked along the water in the neighborhood’s northern most section, offering spectacular views of the bay and nearby New Jersey. In 1856, Henry Cruse Murphy – former Brooklyn mayor, founder of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and first director of the Long Island Historical Society (now Brooklyn Historical Society!) – built his estate on the site that would eventually become Owl’s Head Park. In 1881, one year before his death, Murphy sold the property to Eliphalet W. Bliss for $80,000. A successful local manufacturer, Bliss made his fortune producing metal containers and munitions. Wanting to spruce the grounds up a bit, Bliss added a horse stable, greenhouse, and observatory tower to the property. Upon his death in 1903, he offered the land to New York City for $835,000 along with the stipulation it be kept and maintained as a public park. In 1934, NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses turned his attention to these twenty-seven acres the city had at that point largely neglected, transforming it into a city project. Regrettably, he approved demolition of the Bliss estate along with the observatory tower, greenhouse, and horse stables. Historically, Moses was known for not liking “old buildings” very much. The park’s name is shrouded in mystery since owls have never lived on the grounds. Some claim the land is in the shape of an owl’s head, some say it’s because of the two owl statues that once adorned the entrance gate of the Murphy/Bliss estate, which seems the most likely. Although, these owls may have been built after the name was already in place. It is a mystery lost to the passage of time