Kelly Park Playground

What was here before?
In 1890, this site was part of the J.R. Stillwell estate. He was a descendant of Nicholas Stillwell (1609-1671), one of the earlier European settlers in the Gravesend area of Brooklyn, who purchased land here in 1648.

How did this site become a park?
The original tract of land for this park, to the west of the train tracks, was condemned in 1889 and 1906 for use as a pumping station. In 1924 the site was conveyed to the Brooklyn Parks Department for use as a recreational area. It was improved with tennis courts in the late 1920s and named William E. Kelly Park in 1929. In the spring of 1940, the park was expanded and improved with an extensive recreation area, built by Works Projects Administration labor, including new baseball diamonds and tennis courts (adaptable for ice-skating after flooding and freezing), shuffleboard and volleyball courts, and children’s play structures.

Additional park parcels to the east of the train tracks were acquired in 1937 and 1944, but some of this land was transferred to the Board of Education in 1953 as recreational space for the new P.S. 255 (later renamed the Barbara Reing School).

A memorial to postmaster William E. Kelly was dedicated in 1930. The monument consists of a small obelisk of Barre granite with a bronze relief portrait of Kelly sculpted by L. D. Anderson set within the stone.

In 2022, the park was rebuilt and expanded to include multigenerational play equipment, changeable maze, an ADA accessible archeological dig table and tennis courts.

Who is this park named for?
William E. Kelly (1872-1929) was the postmaster for this area and was acknowledged nationally as a dutiful civil servant. Born in Brooklyn, Kelly attended P.S. 9, P.S. 41, and evening high school. After graduating with honors, he worked as an errand boy at Harper Brothers publishers. He was also an amateur boxer.

In 1894 Kelly was hired by the Kings County post office, then the sixth largest in the nation, where he rose through the ranks. He was president of the National Letter Carriers Association from 1907 to 1913. He served as superintendent and assistant to the postmaster before President Woodrow Wilson appointed him as county postmaster, a position he held from March 1914 to December 1915. Kelly resigned as postmaster to serve as Clerk of Kings County, a public office, which he held from January 1916 until his death on September 20, 1929. Kelly’s funeral at St. Gregory’s Catholic Church in Brooklyn was attended by more than 10,000 mourners; the 250 honorary pallbearers included former Governor Alfred E. Smith and Mayor James J. Walker.

William E. Kelly’s legacy continued with his daughter in law, Edna Flannery Kelly (1906-1997). Flannery Kelly served the 10th Congressional District for nineteen years and was active in foreign affairs following WWII. She was also an advocate for working families and is credited for the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Flannery Kelly died in 1997.