Swan boats in Prospect Park, ca.1890, v1972.1.574; Brooklyn Historical Society Photography Collection.
Prospect Park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux and opened in 1867. Olmsted and Vaux intended to create a pastoral, picturesque landscape and manufactured a series of waterways to help achieve this goal. This body of water, once called Swan Boat Lake, is now known as the Pools, and was recently restored. At the turn of the century, boats like the one pictured were available to rent from a boathouse on the lake, for 10 cents per hour.
What a great photo! I love the giant swan. There’s more information on the history of the Prospect Park boathouse on the Alliance’s website: http://bit.ly/eCOLGs
What a nice website for Eastern Parkway memories.
Wonderful photo. This should be seen by all our history buffs. If you are willing, post it up to http://www.nyc-museums.org and share it with our NYC community. You can add a link back to your site so our users can find your other treasures.