Prospect Park Virtual Field Trip and Guide By Joshua Blum Geology 613: EARTH SCIENCES IN THE NYC URBAN ENVIRONMENT

Prospect Park Stops A - E A) Meeting Point – The Brooklyn Library B) Endale Arch C) Long Meadow D) Vale of Cashmere E) Nellie’s Lawn F) Trail to Rick Arch Bridge G) Rock Arch Bridge H) Audubon Boat House I) Nether Mead J) Lookout Hill K) Prospect Park Lake

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 17 th, 2008.

A B C

A) Meeting Point The Brooklyn Library Address: Grand Army Plaza Brooklyn, NY (718) Brief History: Grand Army Plaza and it’s arch were built in 1889 and dedicated in Prospect Park’s 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 Union’s 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 world’s 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

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 Olmstead’s 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 off the corners. It is tough to see through the soot and other debris caked onto the façade of the arch. Taken from

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.

Work Cited GRAND ARMY PLAZA, acres, Retrieved on June 1, 2008, from Merguerian, Charles. (2004). Geology of Central Park – From rocks to ice. Retrieved May 17, 2008, from