Within Five: Owl’s Head Park

Owl’s Head Park is conveniently located just a half mile from the Brooklyn Army Terminal and is the only City Park in Brooklyn to have a Skate Park. Owl’s Head super-fans have remarked that its large hill the most blissful place in the neighborhood to take in a sunset over the water. A sentiment that seems to fit nicely, as the plot of land was donated to the City by Eliphalet W. Bliss:

E. W. Bliss Esate, circa 1915Photo Courtesy of ephemeralnewyork.files.wordpress.com/

The Canarsie Indians and early Dutch settlers once fished along the shore and farmed the fertile soil that is now Owl’s Head Park. Henry C. Murphy, an Irish–American who held many political positions, including Mayor of Brooklyn and United States Congressman, built a mansion on the glacial ridge overlooking the harbor. In 1866 Eliphalet W. Bliss, a wealthy manufacturer, bought the estate and renovated the mansion, adding a horse stable and observatory tower known as “the castle.” In his will, Bliss, who died in 1903, offered his property to New York City for less than its true value stipulating that it only be used for parkland, and in 1928 the Bliss estate was officially designated a public park. Though impressive at the time the City acquired it, the land and structures fell into neglect with the onset of the

The gate from the original Bliss Estate remains 

Depression. Between 1934 and 1937, Federal funding helped convert the estate into a scenic park, incorporating the extensive collection of established trees and adding paths, playgrounds and play fields, park houses, and a seating plaza that took advantage of the magnificent vista from its southwesterly perimeter. A 2002 renovation of the park restored the historic Bliss gate that had been salvaged decades before.

For more information on park history please visit NYC Parks.