Over the Park’s 150-year history, much of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux’s vision for the Park has been mantained. While the fields, forest and lake of Prospect Park remain, many of the Park’s original structures are lost to history. 

The Dairy

The Dairy, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux as part of the original design of the Park, was located on Sullivan Hill, just across from the Long Meadow. This cozy farmhouse attracted Park picnickers who stopped by to purchase sandwiches and glasses of fresh milk provided by the half-dozen cows that grazed on Long Meadow grasses. Pre-pasteurization, fresh milk was a near-delicacy for Brooklyn residents, accustomed to a gray, watery variety of milk produced by most city cows. In 1935, the Dairy, in disrepair, was removed by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses. 

 

All images courtesy of Prospect Park Archives