Lt. Frank McConnell Park

What used to be here?

This park is located in Richmond Hill. The neighborhood gets its name from a hill that was formed by a glacial moraine from the Wisconsin Glacier. In 1776 the Battle of Long Island was fought along the ridge in Forest Park, near what is now the golf course clubhouse. Protected by thick woods, American riflemen used guerilla warfare tactics to attack and defeat the Hessian soldiers, although the larger battle was won by the British. In 1868, a successful banker named Albon P. Man bought the Lefferts and Welling farms and hired Edward Richmond to lay out the community. Over the next decade, streets, schools, a church and a railroad were built.  Many of the Victorian homes of old Richmond Hill still stand in the area. 

How did this site become a park?

After being used as a public park for more than two decades, this site was officially assigned to Parks in 1944, and named for Lt. McConnell in 1964. McConnell Park is home to the Morris Park World War I Memorial, a large granite monument adorned with a bronze plaque. McConnell Park functions primarily as a sitting area, shaded by an abundance of pin oaks.

Who is this park named for?

In 1964, this park was named to honor Lieutenant Frank McConnell (1896-1918), the first Richmond Hill resident killed in World War I. A star member of the Princeton crew team, McConnell was killed on July 26, 1918 in northern France during the Second Battle of the Marne. This battle marked a turning point of the war. On July 18, 1918, the Allied commander, General Ferdinand Foch, counterattacked German troops with forces that included McConnell’s division.  At Château-Thierry, American troops won their first decisive victory of the war by forcing German troops back across the Marne in what was one of the first large-scale retreats by the German army.