Marine Major Eugene McCarthy (1955-1991) of Brooklyn was among 278 Americans killed during the Gulf War.&nbsp; The memorial bears the symbol of the United States Marine Corps, and a smaller marker at the site reads as follows: A field of broken rock, the battlefield. a broken monument, a life cut short, duty honor and sacrifice

This photo by Eric Lander shows the Marine Major Eugene McCarthy memorial in Brooklyn.

Learn more about Marine Major Eugene McCarthy's historic site at the Historical Marker Database.

More Info

The monument to Desert Storm veteran Major Eugene McCarthy (USMC) is marked with a broken stone in a bed of broken rocks. The artist designed the memorial to symbolize the experience of battle, love of country, and the lives broken by war. 

Marine Major Eugene McCarthy

Admin

A short walking tour from Marine Park past two historic Brooklyn homesteads and a Desert Storm monument 

The Marine Park Preserve includes salt marshes and uplands
that flank Gerritsen Creek, the westernmost freshwater inlet of Jamaica Bay.
There were once plans to turn it into a thriving port, so the creek was dredged.
Then developers came in and bought up land. By 1917, land was offered to the
city for use as a park. Much of the area had been filled for both commercial and
residential development and was a wasteland for trash for a time. It’s an area
protected from the Atlantic Ocean by the Rockaway Peninsula that host more than
325 species of birds, 50 species of butterflies and 100 species of finfish. 

The Nature Center and Park are favorite destinations for
bird watchers, especially. The Nature Center hosts many educational programs as
well as cultural and community events such as concerts, yoga classes, blood
drives, biking, canoeing, kayaking and painting. In addition, visitors can
begin at the Nature Center and meander along the Salt Marsha Nature Trail to
get a glimpse of the area’s unique flora and fauna. 

The landscape in the area features salt marsh, wildflowers,
sand dunes and thickets of shrubs and vines. Among the list of animals that
like to call the area home are myrtle warblers, grasshopper sparrows,
cotton-tailed rabbits, ring-necked pheasants, horseshoe crabs and oyster toad
fish. The Nature Center is one of 10 Urban Park Ranger Nature Center’s in New
York City.

Marine Park is Brooklyn’s largest, covering 798 acres. In addition to being a regular city park with sports fields, playgrounds and green space, Marine Park is home to 530 acres of marsh land that is protected as a Forever Wild preserve. At the core is the Salt Marsh Nature Center, which opened on Earth Day in 2000. The preserved area helps maintain the region’s ecosystem. The Nature Center serves as a hub for this offering public education, recreational activities, environmental studies, exhibits, various maps and brochures, tours and many special events. It’s gets additional support from the non-profit, Salt Marsh Nature Center Alliance, which is a predominantly volunteer-based organization that provides environmental education. 

Salt Marsh Nature Center at Marine Park

In 1719 Johannes Lott, Hendrick's grandfather and member of the&nbsp;New York Colonial Assembly, bought land and built a small farmhouse&nbsp;in the town of Flatlands, what was then a rural area and now a part of Brooklyn. Johannes&nbsp;was already&nbsp;successful farmer by then and the Lotts&nbsp;became a prominent family in the community. His son, Johannes Jr., lived on the farm and he passed away in 1792. Hendrick built a new house in 1800 close to the original one so he could make it the kitchen&nbsp;for&nbsp;the new building. The Lotts grew various crops including&nbsp;potatoes, cabbage, wheat, and vegetables and&nbsp;sold these goods in Brooklyn and Manhattan. They also built other structures on the farm such as&nbsp;a separate stone kitchen. As was common in that period, the Lotts relied on slave labor. They also had indentured servants and paid workers. The Lotts freed their slaves in 1805, long before slavery was abolished in New York and their farm may have been a stop on the underground railroad. The family continued to farm the land until 1925, when John Bennet Lott,&nbsp;the last farmer, passed away. The very last family member, Ella Sydam, died in 1989. By then most of the land was sold. The rest of the property as well as the house was bought by the city of New York in 2002. The house is currently being restored.

The Hendrick I. Lott House is a Dutch-American colonial era house located in the Marine Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The house is very well preserved and has remained largely unchanged since its construction in 1800 by Hendrick I. Lott.  It has 18 rooms and is one of the oldest surviving colonial farmhouses in New York City. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation owns the house and it is operated by the Hendrick I. House Preservation Association. The house is also a member of Historic House Trust of New York City.

Hendrick I. Lott  House

Built around the year 1766, the Wyckoff-Bennett Homestead is an&nbsp;18th-century example of Dutch colonial architecture. The house is rectangular in shape and one and a half stories tall. It sits on a half-acre lot that consists of the house, a white picket fence, and a barn. Even after years of wear and tear, the house remains in pristine&nbsp;condition. In the 1890s, due to the addition of roads in the area, the house was turned to face west instead of south so that part of it didn't have to be demolished for the roads to be built.&nbsp; Over the course of its life, the house has changed families twice with a total of three different families living in the house. The Wyckoff family, who built the home, lived in it until 1835. That year, Cornelius W. Bennett purchased the home, along with the nearly 100 acres that surrounded it. The Bennett family used the property for farming for much of the 19th century. The house remained in the Bennett family until 1983, when the Mont family, Annette and Stuart, bought the home for $160,000. Though the Mont family intended to sell the property to New York City when they passed away, the deal fell through, so the Mont's plan to pass the home onto their children instead.&nbsp; During the American Revolution, the homestead was occupied by Hessian forces stationed in the area. They used the property as quarters for their officers, who were hired by the British to help them combat the colonists. The name of two Hessian officers, Toepfer Capt. of Regt. de Ditfurth and M. Bach Lieutenant Hessen Hanau Artillerie, are carved into the windowpanes. Because of the home's lengthy life and rich history, it was designated a New York City landmark in 1968 and given a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.&nbsp;

The Wyckoff-Bennett Homestead was built around the year 1766 in what is today Brooklyn, New York. The property consists of a Dutch farmhouse and barn. The rectangular farmhouse is a story and a half tall, and it is one of the only remaining Dutch farmhouses left in New York City, leaving with us an example of what Dutch colonial farmhouse architecture was like. The house was named a landmark site by the city of New York in 1968, and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. 

Marine Park and Older than Brooklyn

Marine Major Eugene McCarthy

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information