Tompkins Park
Image represented is one of a related set (PARK 0141, PARK 0142), some of which may also be described in this new record; Three views of Tompkins Park in Bedford Stuyvesant. 0141 shows two men standing on sidewalk talking, 0142 shows several adults and children walking in park, including a woman pushing a baby carriage and a small girl holding a doll, and 0143 shows man and boy sitting on Junglegym and man wearing uniform standing in right foreground.
Center for Brooklyn HistoryTompkins Park, now Herbert Von King Park, was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux. It was constructed between 1870 and 1871. The park featured trees at the square center and a flower garden along the perimeter.
In 1885, a resident of the neighborhood planted the seed of a Southern Magnolia Tree adjacent to the park. He had brought it from North Carolina. Miraculously, it survived the brisk winters of New York. It was designated a historic landmark in 1970 after activist Hattie Carthan fought developers to ensure the tree's survival.
Urban Archive