Van Voorhees Playground

Columbia St., Hicks St. bet. Congress St. and Atlantic Ave.

Brooklyn

Directions via Google Maps

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

This park honors Tracy S. Voorhees (1890-1974), an attorney and decorated World War II veteran, and his family’s early contributions to the City.

The Van Voorhees family traces its lineage to Steven Coerten Van Voorhees who settled in Brooklyn in the mid-17th century. He established himself in the neighborhood of Flatlands, became a magistrate, an elder in the Dutch Reformed Church, and the head of a formidable clan. His ten children bore 20 grandchildren. The grandchildren amassed 85 children themselves, among them Tracy Voorhees, to carry on the family name. The “Van” was eventually dropped from the name.

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