Tennis playing: Lewis Nostrand Anderson, Jr. and his cousin Wade, M.D., with two girls, c.1885
Original photograph courtesy of The Brooklyn Historical Society. Digital copy available at the Prospect Park Archives.
Lawn tennis was introduced to the Park in 1881. It immediately became an extremely fashionable pastime, popular with both men and women. At the turn of the century, over 300 lawn tennis courts were set up on the Long Meadow. By the early 1900s, the Park needed additional storage space for the sport. The Tennis House (1910), designed by Helmle, Huberty and Hudswell, was built specifically for that purpose. An 1885 Harper’s Weekly article explained that "the amount of work necessary to keep the ground properly marked, it may be here stated that thirty-eight barrels of whiting were used for that purpose, as the lines have to be gone over about twice a week, and also after every rain-storm." By the 1920s the enthusiasm for lawn tennis had disappeared.