Prospect Park Virtual Field Trip and Guide

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Prospect Park Virtual Field Trip and Guide

• By Joshua Blum
• Geology 613 EARTH SCIENCES IN THE NYC URBAN
  ENVIRONMENT

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Prospect Park Stops A - E

• Meeting Point The Brooklyn Library
• Endale Arch
• Long Meadow
• Vale of Cashmere
• Nellies Lawn
• Trail to Rick Arch Bridge
• Rock Arch Bridge
• Audubon Boat House
• Nether Mead
• Lookout Hill
• Prospect Park Lake

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Virtual Field Guide Information

• This document is meant to serve as a geological
  history of Prospect Park, and
• how the natural landscape was modified to create
  the park. Whenever
• appropriate, slides will also include fun facts
  about the area as well as natural
• history about its development and/or
  reconstruction.
• You have the option to skip over sites you have
  no interest of seeing by using the
• Prospect Park map. All sites visited have been
  linked and can be seen
• individually if desired.
• All pictures unless otherwise noted were taken by
  Joshua Blum, the author, on
• May 17th, 2008.

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A
B
C
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A) Meeting PointThe Brooklyn LibraryAddress
Grand Army Plaza Brooklyn, NY 11238 [phone]

• Brief History Grand Army Plaza and its
• arch were built in 1889 and dedicated
• in 1892. Prospect Parks land was set
• aside in 1860 but plans stalled at the outset
• of the Civil War. After the Civil War, Grand
• Army Plaza began to be known to honor to
• the Union Army and the Unions Civil War
• navy. Vaux and Olmstead the designers of
• Central Park in Manhattan were also
• charged with the designing of Prospect
• Park. The Grand Army Plaza was also a
• mark for the worlds first parkway, Eastern
• Parkway.
• Fun Facts The second largest Green
• Market can be found at Grand Army Plaza.
• For more information and schedules please see
• http//www.prospectpark.org/visit/places/greenmark
  et

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B) Endale Arch

• History Endale Arch or Enterdale Arch is
• the the first arch you enter through coming
• in from the northwest entrance. As you
• walk into the park from Grand Army Plaza
• (GAP) you walk downhill. This is not the
• natural landscape of the park. Most paths
• in Prospect Park were designed to dip into
• the park to allow for berms to be created
• along the rim thus deflecting all
• commercial and city sounds up and over
• the park. Vaux and Olmsteads goal was to
• create a rural setting within a cosmopolitan
• city free from all city noise. As you enter
• through most entrances of the park, you
• will notice this decrease in elevation which
• goes hand-in-hand with a dramatic
• reduction of noise.
• Geological Information Build by Sandstone
• physical weathering is evident by chips

Taken from www.forgotten-ny.com
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C) Long Meadow

• Walking through Endale Arch you come upon a
• huge expanse of grass called Long Meadow. Long
• Meadow extends completely across the north side
  of
• Prospect Park, offering ball fields, BBQ areas,
• public bathrooms and much more. Long Meadow
• originally had to be cleared of all trees when
• construction was started. It was given a
  hummocky
• look throughout.

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Work Cited

• GRAND ARMY PLAZA, 11.04 acres, Retrieved on June
  1, 2008, from http//www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your
  _park/historical_signs.
• Merguerian, Charles. (2004). Geology of Central
  Park From rocks to ice. Retrieved May 17, 2008,
  from http//www.dukelabs.com.