Baisley Pond Park

Baisley Pond Park is a public park that is located in Queens, New York. The park is located along the banks of a thirty-acre pond, which is called the Baisley Pond. Click here to know more.

Mastodon remains found in the pond

When Baisley Pond was drained in the 1850s, workers discovered remains of the American Mastodon. These were the only mastodons found in North America at that time.

The Mastodon was a huge elephant-like animal. It lived in open spruce woodlands, swamps, and bogs. They died out around 10,000 years ago during the last Ice Age.

In the early 1800s, John Warren, a wealthy professor of anatomy at Harvard College, started collecting mastodon relatives from across the United States. He shipped them to his museum in Boston. This collection eventually became famous.

In 1858, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle described the discovery of mastodon bones. One of them was discovered in a drainage ditch. Others were concealed in shanties.

Later, the tusk was brought to the American Museum of Natural History. Wooster Beach, the physician at the site, verified that the tooth was a mastodon tooth.

By the end of the nineteenth century, dozens of mastodons were found in New York. Some were dredged from the continental shelf.

It was a source for Brooklyn’s water

A major source of water for Brooklyn’s neighborhoods was Baisley Pond. The pond was named after a local farmer, David Baisley, who owned the land.

Baisley Pond was a part of the water system used by Brooklyn until 1859. The Brooklyn water system included an aqueduct that ran from Hempstead Lake to Ridgewood Reservoir. It was not until the turn of the century that the water system was extended to Massapequa and Long Island.

When Brooklyn acquired the pond, it dredged the lake and made it deeper. In the late 1800s, the water in the pond was polluted from the sewage and waste of the area.

However, the park had some other amenities. It included a sports field and playground. Also, the pond was home to a mastodon. This ape-like creature is believed to have been in the area for thousands of years.

The park is located in South Jamaica. The eastern section of the park features a crescent promenade with frog sculptures. Visit another area in town here.

It’s a playground and sports field

Baisley Pond Park in Jamaica, Queens is a popular local destination. It is also known in the West Indian community as a great place to play cricket.

Baisley Pond Park was created in 1914. The northern portion of the park opened in 1919. Previously, the area was largely rural.

In the 1920s, new houses and development took place. But most of Queens was still rural. There was little congestion in the area.

As the 1930s progressed, parks were constructed. These included a boat landing, baseball fields, playgrounds, and tennis courts.

During the same period, federal funding paid workers to build hundreds of new playgrounds. This included a “Mastodon” statue in the Sutphin Playground.

The same era also witnessed the first subway cars in New York. Many of them were painted red to combat graffiti.

A 1930s aerial survey showed a crescent-shaped promenade on the eastern side of the pond. Today, that feature is part of a larger public art project called the Jamaica Flux.

It’s a memorial for World War One fighters

Baisley Pond Park is a small park in South Jamaica, New York. The 110 acres of park includes tennis courts, a playground, and handball courts. A memorial for World War One soldiers can be seen here.

The park is on the banks of Baisley Pond, which was once the location of an aqueduct. It is surrounded by the JFK Expressway and the Belt Parkway. In addition, the city’s parks system is located here.

There are three tracts of land that make up the park. On the eastern side, there is a crescent-shaped promenade with frog sculptures. Here you can also see the circular flagpole plaza. Also, there is an observatory deck. These features give visitors a view of the Manhattan skyline.

The park is a popular destination for residents of South Jamaica. Visitors can take a walk on the promenade, go on a hike, or even catch a movie at the Gateway Theater. You can also enjoy salt-water swimming.

Although this park was originally built in 1914, it was reconstructed in 1940. In the 1930s, the economy was in a slump. This is why the park was constructed in a low-density fashion. Next blog post.

 

 

Driving directions from RJ’s Gutter Cleaning to Baisley Pond Park

Driving directions from Baisley Pond Park to Alley Pond Park