History Alive: The Old Stone House

City-Kid Review:

Plays with a red and blue dinosaur in the bathtub: ‘The red one is the British!”
This is after playing the game with red and blue toy soldiers at the Old Stone Tavern

In the day to day hustle and very busy bustle of the exciting city that is New York, it is very easy to forget that many men and, perhaps, some women fought hard and died on the very ground beneath our feet.

The Battle of Harlem Heights. The Landing at Kip’s Bay. The Battle of White Plains. The Battle of Fort Washington. The Battle of Long Island…

Aka, The Battle of Brooklyn.

The Old Stone House is the perfect museum to launch an understanding of that part of American and British history. It is a quaint, reproduction of the original farmhouse located at the epicenter of the horrific Battle of Brooklyn.This battle was the largest battle of the war and came a month after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776. It was a bloody and unbalanced battle – 400 Marylanders facing down 2000 British soldiers. It was bloody and long; in the end, Stirling eventually surrendered, with over half of the American troops slaughtered. The British proceeded to occupy Brooklyn and Manhattan for seven years, while Washington retreated back over the East River to regroup and return to eventually win the war.

Over two centuries ago, the battle stretched over the last week of August, with the British seizing control of Manhattan in the first week of September

The Old Stone House is a replica of the original farmhouse which was built on this spot in 1699 by the wealthy Dutch settlers, the Vechtes. They were farmers and, like many landowning white settlers in the North as well as the South, relied on African slaves to build their farming wealth.

This museum is well thought out. The lower level is an interactive museum dedicated specifically to the Battle of Brooklyn and to the wider war. There is even a game with American and British toy soldiers and two very large red and blue dice. Upstairs is a room used for special events.

Also, the Old Stone House was the original club house for the Brooklyn Dodgers. They played in a baseball park which is now the site of the wonderful JJ Byrne Playground, Washington Park and the nearby middle school.

We highly recommend.

Need to Knows:

Cost: free

Location: 4 street, between 4th and 5th avenue, in Brooklyn.  Here is a map.

The Old Stone House is next to Park Slope, so there are plenty of kid-friendly eateries to choose from.

Top-Tip:

Plan to spend time in the JJ Byrne playground, afterwards. It caters to all ages, is enormous in size and capacity for fun.

The playground has a big water feature, so on a hot day, you might want to bring water gear and towels.

Do you have a favorite Arthur Avenue experience? Please tell us about it in the comments section.

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