BROOKLYN, NY — On August 22, 1978, Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway was designated a scenic landmark. Stretching from Grand Army Plaza through Crown Heights to Ralph Avenue, this parkway introduced some of the advanced urban planning concepts of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the designers of Central and Prospect Parks.
It was planned in 1866 as one of a complex of boulevards emanating from Prospect Park, with a central artery for through traffic and side roads for local use, separated by landscaped malls.
More in the Extended Article!
On This Day in History: August 22 – Eastern Parkway Designated Landmark
BROOKLYN, NY — On August 22, 1978, Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway was designated a scenic landmark. Stretching from Grand Army Plaza through Crown Heights to Ralph Avenue, this parkway introduced some of the advanced urban planning concepts of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the designers of Central and Prospect Parks.
It was planned in 1866 as one of a complex of boulevards emanating from Prospect Park, with a central artery for through traffic and side roads for local use, separated by landscaped malls.
More in the Extended Article!
It was the first six-lane parkway in the world. The broad median strips were built as promenades and equestrian paths, the side lanes as service roads for carriages.
Some of the most spectacular nineteenth century houses in Brooklyn, many on what has long been known as “Doctor’s Row,” line the thoroughfare. A large Tudor-style building at 770 Eastern Parkway is the world headquarters of the Lubavitch movement.
CN
Nice pictures, but the subways certainly weren’t around in 1866, and didn’t come until the early 1900’s. I’m surprised the article doesn’t speak about the widening of part of what was formerly Sackett Street to make Eastern Parkway (the rest of Sackett Street still exists futher downtown) as part of the post civil war era development.