The Old Stone House was built in 1699 as a Dutch farmhouse
by the Vechte family. The original house
burned down in 1897, but was rebuilt of the same stones. The house is still standing (336 – 3rd
Street) and it’s worth a visit because one of the major battles of the
Revolutionary War took place around it.
Control of The Old Stone House was a measure of who was
winning that Revolutionary War battle.
256 men died in that battle and were buried in a mass grave at what is
now the southwest corner of 3rd Street and 7th Avenue. The gravesite actually stretched to 4th
Street, which is now a block of row houses turned into apartment houses where
apartments rent for around $4,000 a month.
One has to wonder if the graves of hundreds of men who died bloody
deaths and are buried underneath them, gives off some kind of eerie vibe in
those homes.
The Old Stone House is now managed and maintained by the New
York Parks Department and welcomes visitors. They’ll tell you that it’s not only a memorial
to the Revolutionary War (and there are lots of war memorials in New York
City), it used to be a clubhouse for the Superbas baseball team.
The Superbas – later known as the Brooklyn Dodgers – played
at Washington Baseball Park (long ago torn down) which was built between 4th
& 3rd Avenues and 1st and 3rd Streets in
Brooklyn – near the famous Gowanus Canal.
The Gowanus Canal is renowned for being so heavily polluted that at one
point the EPA actually demanded it be cleaned up, which may have happened. (It’s hard to tell). The baseball park was built next to The Old
Stone House and the players used it as their clubhouse and a place to store
their gear. The Superbas used to play
the Boston Beaneaters, who eventually became the Boston Braves.
The Dodgers got that name because when the Superbas started
playing at Ebbets Field – near the intersection of Flatbush and Ocean/Malbone
Avenues – people had to dodge the trolley cars.
Besides being a place of interesting historical value, The
Old Stone House hosts events, parties, and weddings. The King’s County Fiber Festival will be held
at the Old Stone House in October.
Artists, dyers, knitters, crocheters, quilters, and weavers will be
giving exhibitions and demonstrations.
post by Alana Cash
