Milestone Park—Van Pelt Manor

Van Pelt Manor was the name given to an area of Brooklyn, New York that today is part of the section of Bensonhurst. Van Pelt Manor was an area in New Utrecht one of the Dutch towns in Brooklyn. Eight generations of the Van Pelt family lived at Van Pelt Manor. Some of the more noteworthy were Captain Petrus Van Pelt, who was elected to the New York Provincial Congress in 1776, Teunis Van Pelt Talmage, elected to the New York State Assembly, and John V.B. Van Pelt, the last elected Supervisor (mayor) of New Utrecht before it was annexed by the City of Brooklyn in 1894. Townsend Cortelyou Van Pelt, brother of Supervisor Van Pelt, deeded the Van Pelt Manor House and surrounding grounds to the City of New York for one dollar in 1910.[4] The Manor House was torn down after a fire in 1952, but the grounds, known as Milestone Park, are administered by the New York City Department of Parks as a small recreation area. In the early 1950s the house which was unprotected was used by neighborhood children to play in. The fire was suspected to have started by children whom often built small fires to stay warm while playing in the structure.