Fireworks, Victorians and Break-ins: Independence Day in Brooklyn and Beyond

When revelry, fireworks, independence and alcohol combine, the result is many a memorable evening. And so it is with the Fourth of July, as a handful of the stories in our archives can attest, with everything from park parties to home break-ins occurring on the holiday over the years.

Here are five of Brownstoner’s best Fourth of July stories from Brooklyn’s past.

Walkabout: Brooklyn’s Small Parks: Tompkins Park
In 1879, the Brooklyn Eagle reported that the people of the 23rd and 29th wards celebrated the Fourth of July at Tompkins Park. In an unintentionally amusing comment, the paper opined, “They had an old fashioned gathering, at which an oration, putting forth thoughts appropriate to the occasion, was made.” Those Victorians really knew how to have fun.

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Building of the Day: 464-492 16th Street
This Windsor Terrace Neo-Grec rowhouse, at 464-492 16th Street, was broken into during Fourth of July weekend in 1896. The culprits were a gang of 11- to 14-year-olds.

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Walkabout: “The Landlord of East New York”
The former president of the Unexcelled Fire-works Company of New York, Edward Linton, said the banning of fireworks for Fourth of July celebrations was a sin. So he invited the public to come down to his Chambers Street warehouse to see the precautions taken by his company to ensure safety.

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Past and Present: The Henry C. Bowen Mansion
The man credited for reviving the celebration of the Fourth of July, Henry C. Bowen, once lived in a Brooklyn Heights mansion on the corner of Willow and Clark streets that was described as being the neighborhood’s most beautiful home.

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The Architect of the OTHER Prospect Park: A Troy Story
Envious of the exemplary naturalistic-style parks in Brooklyn and Manhattan, the city of Troy, N.Y., planned its own public green space, also named Prospect Park. The grand opening was planned for July 4, 1902.

Related Stories

• On Memorial Day, 1897, a Tally-Ho Ride from Stuyvesant Heights to Long Island Went Horribly Wrong
• Walkabout: Decoration Day in Brooklyn
• Visiting Brooklyn’s Revolutionary War Sites: Old Stone House, Fort Greene Park and More

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