Prohibition Park, also called National Prohibition Park, was a temperance town and park used as a

summer colony The term summer colony is often used, particularly in the United States, to describe well-known resorts and upper-class enclaves, typically located near the ocean or mountains of New England or the Great Lakes. In Canada, the term cottage countr ...

in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

borough of

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

, precursor to the modern

Westerleigh Westerleigh is a clustered village and civil parish (which includes Henfield) in South Gloucestershire, England, it contains sources of the Frome and has an endpoint of the Frome Valley Walkway. It is north of the M4, south of Yate and nort ...

neighborhood. The park and community were founded after the purchase of the land in 1887 by members of the

National Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party (PRO) is a political party in the United States known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and as an integral part of the temperance movement. It is the oldest existing third party ...

(serving as the party's headquarters) during a

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

prior to Federal prohibition in the United States, with the specification that no consumption of

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

would be permitted in the area. At its peak the park had extended nearly 150 acres, but declined in the 1900s along with the temperance movement, with much of the land sold to non-movement members. The remaining parkland was obtained by the City in 1907, surviving as Westerleigh Park and Northerleigh Park operated by the New York City Parks Department.

History

The area of Prohibition Park and modern Westerleigh began as part of the 5,100 acres estate of

Thomas Dongan Thomas Dongan, (pronounced "Dungan") 2nd Earl of Limerick (1634 – 14 December 1715), was a member of the Irish Parliament, Royalist military officer during the English Civil War, and Governor of the Province of New York. He is noted for hav ...

Colonial Governor of New York The territory which would later become the state of New York was settled by European colonists as part of the New Netherland colony (parts of present-day New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware) under the command of the Dutch West India ...

under British rule, purchased in 1683. The land was purchased in 1848 by New York politician

John Vanderbilt John Vanderbilt (January 28, 1819 – May 16, 1877) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Life He was the son of John Vanderbilt (1794–1842) and Sarah Lott (1795–1859). He was baptised on February 21 at the Flatbush Reformed D ...

. Between and of land were purchased from Vanderbilt's daughter in 1887 by Christopher S. Williams and Manhattan Methodist pastor William H. Boole on behalf of the

. The party intended on founding a reclusive summer retreat in response to apparent widespread crime and blight in the city attributed to alcohol consumption. The park was opened on July 4, 1888, and was operated by the National Prohibition Campground Association (later the National Prohibition Park Company). In its first year of existence, 60,000 people visited the park. A 4000-seat auditorium called University Temple opened in 1891. By 1897, the park had grown to in size, with a yearly attendance of 200,000. The park consisted of

campground A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for camping, overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight u ...

, a picnic grove, tennis courts, ball fields, horse stables and other recreational facilities. Visitors would stay in tents anchored to wooden platforms. Any open lots not used for campsites were used for development, giving way to permanent buildings including a bowling alley, a large hotel called the Park Hotel, and several small hotels. Events at the park included temperance rallies, religious and temperance meetings, educational lectures, and Chautauqua entertainment. The park was served by a surface trolley line (operated by the Port Richmond and Prohibition Park Electric Railway Company) on Jewett Avenue beginning in 1892, originating in Port Richmond. This would connect to ferries in the northern shore of Port Richmond, or the

Staten Island Railway The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is a rapid transit line in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Staten Island. It is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Trans ...

's North Shore Branch and additional trolley service towards Saint George Terminal.

Residential development

In 1892, the area began transitioning into a permanent residential community. Over 1,000 building sites were created, each with a deed prohibiting the use, manufacture, or sale of liquor. Single-family homes in Victorian, Dutch, and English stylings were constructed. Streets were constructed in the neighborhood, named after prominent Prohibition figures. The Westerleigh Collegiate Association, a private school which offered education from Kindergarten to college, opened in 1895. Initially selling only to fellow temperance followers, in the 1900s the Park Company began selling lots to non-members of the movement. This, along with declining park attendance, and the destruction of the University Temple and Westerleigh Collegiate in 1903 due to separate fires, led to the decline of Prohibition Park. The community was renamed Westerleigh, and the remaining undeveloped parkland was acquired by

in 1907.

Residents

* William H. Boole, a park trustee and juryman who died there in 1896.

References

{{Reflist Geography of Staten Island Temperance movement History of Staten Island