History of Brooklawn Park

Daniel Ricketson and the Shanty

In 1851, the land that would become Brooklawn Park was bought by a man named Daniel Ricketson. Ricketson was a lawyer by trade, but studied nature and literature in his own time. After draining a tidal swamp, he built a farmhouse among the brooks and meadows, dubbing the estate “Brook Lawn”. He planted gardens and apple orchards on the estate, and also kept cows to graze there. In late 1853, his family moved there from their old mansion Woodlee, set on the site of what is now Saint Anthony of Padua Parish a mile south on Acushnet Avenue.

By the next year, he had built a 12’ by 14’ shack in Brook Lawn named the “Shanty”. The Shanty contained only one room with exposed beams on the inside, along with gingerbread trim on the outside. He covered two walls with ideas and quotes from the likes of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who often visited Brook Lawn and were friends of his. Ricketson entertained “members” of the “Shanty Society” in the same retreat he would read and write in.

Brooklawn Park

A black-and-white photo of the wading pool, with many people in and around itIn 1894, four years before Ricketson’s death, the city of New Bedford acquired Brook Lawn for use as a public park, naming it Brooklawn Park. A wading pool/ice rink along with warming house was built, designed by local architect Louis E. Destremps. In 1958, the park opened Storyland, which featured statues of nursery rhyme characters and a decommissioned F-94 Starfighter jet airplane.

The Ricketson properties, left untouched, began to fall apart. The farmhouse was demolished in 1971. The Shanty, which had previously been restored in 1964, was deemed an attractive nuisance by 1981 and was also demolished.

Three people standing on the dug-up foundation of the ShantyIn 2014, archaeologist Holly Herbster found and excavated the foundation of the Shanty. Along with two historians, she found several clay smoking pipes (believed to be Ricketson’s) and the door handle to the Shanty. (Some say that the door, along with other parts of the Shanty, were stored in the city yard. They have yet to be found there.) In celebration of the Shanty’s rediscovery, a Daniel Ricketson festival was held in May that year and several years after. A plaque now stands in place of the original building.

An aerial photo of Brooklawn Park
Today, Brooklawn Park features a duck pond, a playground, a splash pad, and trails for cross-country running and nature walks. The park is home to the Bay State Girls Softball League, the Whaling City Youth Baseball League, and New Bedford Pony League Baseball, along with 2 softball fields and 6 baseball fields. The park also has tennis and basketball courts and a skate park.

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