Cooper Park - NYC Parks

Cooper Park sits on land that once hosted an industrial glue factory owned by the 19th century inventor and philanthropist Peter Cooper. After the factory closed, his family sold the site to the City of Brooklyn in 1895 for fifty-five thousand dollars. The city cleared the industrial remnants to establish this green space, transforming a place of heavy production into a local hub for recreation. Peter Cooper himself remains a notable figure in American history, known for designing the first American steam locomotive and for founding the tuition-free Cooper Union college in Manhattan.