est. 1892

Crown Heights North’s only public park was established in 1892, when the City of Brooklyn purchased what is now the southern portion and named it Bedford Park. The northern portion was acquired in 1923, the same year the park was renamed for former Parks Commissioner George V. Brower, who died in 1921. Brower was a strong parks advocate who was instrumental in creating many parks in Brooklyn, including Sunset, Red Hook, and Fort Hamilton Parks. A resident of the neighborhood, Brower loved Bedford Park, and even built his mansion at the corner of Park Place and Kingston Avenue (it was later replaced by the Shaari Zedek Synagogue, site # 18). The park’s classically-inspired comfort station was built in 1905, and a World War I memorial was erected in 1919. In 1936, drinking fountains and a playground were added and paths were reconfigured. The park was extended in 1947 to include the portion between Prospect Place and St. Marks Avenue, including land for the George V. Brower Elementary School. The school opened in 1958, at which time the portion of Prospect Place that ran through the park was grassed in. The Friends of Brower Park formed in 2009 to care for the park.