POTW: Sunset Park's Bygone Lake

Dee

Color postcard of a lake in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Lake, Sunset Park, color postcard, circa 1910s, POST_0011; Brooklyn postcard collection, BCMS.0060, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.

According to this circa 1910s color postcard from our Brooklyn postcards collection, there was once a lake in Sunset Park, which was certainly news to me. A 1902 Brooklyn Daily Eagle article on "Park Improvements in Brooklyn and Queens" noted that "one of the features of this park is the beautiful, clear spring lake on the summit of the hill." Also of note in this postcard is the designation of the park's location. Prior to the mid-20th century, the neighborhood we now know as Sunset Park was mostly considered to be part of Bay Ridge.

Unfortunately, the lake seems to have been one of the park features removed during Works Progress Administration changes in the late 1930s, along with a carousel and a "rustic shelter." On the upside, those changes included an Olympic-size swimming pool which is still free and open to the public today.

Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal of Brooklyn Public Library. We welcome appointments to research our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.

 

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

 

Carolyn A Quadarella

This lake in Sunset Park really amazes me. Yes I do recall that Sunset Park was once considered Bay Ridge but it had its own designation when I grew up in the 1950's. I think then anything below 65th street was considered Sunset Park.
Tue, Jul 15 2025 8:52 pm Permalink

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