Skating on the Lullwater, c.1886
Photograph by Walter H. Nelson. Original photograph courtesy of The Brooklyn Historical Society. Digital copy available at the Prospect Park Archives.
When Prospect Park opened in 1867, ice skating on the Park’s frozen waterways immediately became a popular winter pastime. This image shows several people skating on the Lullwater with a view of the original wooden Lullwood Bridge, designed by Calvert Vaux, in the background. The Lullwood Bridge was replaced by McKim, Mead, and White’s Lullwater Bridge in 1890.