This is a quick park and grab, but right in the park, so after your find our Fugax Terrapene, you can enjoy a hike or stay and play in the dog park, rose garden or playground, depending on your companions :)
This land has a rich history. It was used as a gathering ground for the Leni-Lenape before the Dutch Settlers moved in during the 17th century. They turned it into farming and grazing land. The fields were called Stonehouse Plains until the late 1800's when it was changed to Brookdale because Stonehouse Plains was too long a name.
In 1928, land purchases began for the future park. Although it was interrupted by the Great Depression, construction was completed in 1937. The design was done by the prodigious Olmsead Brothers, whose father designed Centrl Park in NYC in 1857. They and their firm created designs for more than 6,000 landscapes across North America, including many of the world's most important parks, including Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Boston’s Emerald Necklace, Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, Mount Royal in Montreal, the grounds of the United States Capitol and the White House, and Washington Park, Jackson Park and the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. The Olmsted Brothers were founding members of the American Society of Landscape Architects and played an influential role in the creation of the National Park Service.