Brooklyn Life

A Surreal Prospect Park Winter Landscape (1904)

In the early 20th century, photographer O.E. Dunlap captured an almost otherworldly view of a snow-laden landscape in Prospect Park.

Photo via Library of Congress

by Susan De Vries

12/28/2016 0

In the early 20th century, photographer O.E. Dunlap captured an almost otherworldly view of a snow-laden landscape identified as Prospect Park. The seemingly black-clad figures add a somber contrast to the snowy view. While the Library of Congress labels the location as Brooklyn’s Prospect Park and dates it to circa 1904, not much more information is given.

With a bit of digging we were able to find out that this photo, so often attributed to Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, is actually a view of Prospect Park in Niagara Falls. In 1904, Orrin E. Dunlap, a photographer and newspaper editor based in Niagara Falls, submitted this photograph to the publication Nature. Dunlap noted the photo was taken in February when the spray from the falls fell onto the trees in the park, creating the unusual landscape.