Photo Friday: Brooklyn City Hall + Goodbye to All That/Farewell to the Enchanted City*

Palen Postcard, Brooklyn City Hall.

Dear Brooklyn,

Thank you for being The Preservator's home base for the last couple of years. I know you won't take it personally when I tell you that we're leaving you for the friendly embrace of the great City of Philadelphia. You are a beautiful place to live and we will treasure memories of your gorgeous brownstones, awesome parks, and wild residents. We leave you in good hands. You won't even notice we're gone. Meantime, we are excited to get to know what's become of William Penn's Greene Country Towne.

Stay tuned for dispatches from a bit further south, maybe even a new format. Who knows what the move will inspire. We are all works in progress.

Yours,
The Preservator

*Goodbye To All That, by Joan Didion - not exactly my feelings, but worth the (re)visit
(also note - this is what the internet looked like in 1997!)

Brooklyn Beach Amusements of the Past

Next up in the Preservator's occasional Palen Postcard series comes a few from the Brooklyn beach amusements of yesteryear. You'll notice that the rides and the atmosphere seem really elaborate, especially by comparison to today's Luna Park, which looks a bit fly-by-night.  

This set is inspired by my trip to Coney Island this past Sunday. I rode the Cyclone and nearly lost my glasses. Twice. It was great. We checked out the local landmarks, and walked the boardwalk. More on Coney Island later, for now the postcards please.



Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

For more Palen Postcard check these: Prospect Park in Postcards

Prospect Park in Postcards

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

The Palen sisters were my great grandmother's neighbors in Nyack, NY.  By sheer luck I ended up with their collection of fantastic historic postcards.  Here is a selection of historic postcards of Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York, sent between 1904-1919 to and from the Palens. 

Fredrick Law Olmsted & Calvert Vaux designed Prospect Park after Central Park.  Since it was built in 1860 the park's widely varied landscape has changed much, but still includes Olmsted & Vaux's meadows, woodlands, and ponds. The park's majestic entrances were designed by McKim, Meade and White.

This marks the first of an occasional series of Palen Postcard posts.