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• James S.T. Stranahan
• Date: 1891
• Sculptor: Frederick MacMonnies
• Architect: Stanford White
• Medium & size: bronze (green patina), 7’8″ tall. Pedestal: Knoxville marble and pink granite, 7’4″ tall.
• Location: Prospect Park, Brooklyn, near the Grand Army Plaza entrance.

James Samuel Thomas Stranahan (1808-1898), born near Oneida, NY, arrived in Brooklyn in 1844 and became wealthy as a railroad contractor and builder of docks. From 1860 to 1882, as head of the Brooklyn Park Commission, he promoted the development of Prospect Park. Olmsted and Vaux submitted the design for the Park in 1866, and construction (under Olmsted’s supervision) began that same year. It’s arguably their greatest achievement, incorporating design elements not used in Central Park, whose construction began in 1858 (just before the Civil War). Stranahan promoted the construction of Eastern Parkway and Ocean Parkway, as well as the development of Coney Island. The Encyclopedia of New York City (1995) notes, “When a financial discrepancy was discovered [Stranahan] left the [Brooklyn Park] Board and reconciled the accounts with his own funds.”

Stranahan later served as trustee of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge Company, in which role he presided at the dedication of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883. Earlier that year he described the bridge:

That bridge, so long the object of public thought, and not infrequently
the target of newspaper criticism, now substantially finished and destined, in a short time to be opened for general use, needs no eulogy from my lips. There it stands, its own orator; and there for generations it will stand, its own historian. It will for ages be one of the attractions and one of the wonders of this great metropolitan center. Its fame will be world-wide; and the foreign traveler who seeks these shores will feast his eyes and gratify his curiosity in gazing upon a structure that now has no parallel in any of the products of human art. …

Brooklyn, as you are aware, is by the East river isolated from the main land. The people of that city hope that the bridge will remove that isolation, and put them in direct railway communication, not only with New York city, but with all parts of the country. This will greatly serve their convenience and promote their prosperity. New York will certainly not object, and will not be the loser. If a bridge over the Harlem river connects New York with the main land, why should not a bridge over the East river perform a similar service in behalf of Brooklyn and Long Island?

Stranahan, 5/3/1883, quoted in Peter Ross, Long Island from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present TIme, 1902

Stranahan was also on the commission that framed the charter of the City of Greater New York after its consolidation in 1898. (See my post on Andrew H. Green.)

More

• For more on Stranahan’s life, see Peter Ross, Long Island from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present TIme, 1902.
• MacMonnies created two of my favorite sculptures in New York City (or anywhere else): Nathan Hale (City Hall Park) and the Bacchante with Infant Faun (Metropolitan Museum). The quadriga and the groups of sailors and soldiers on the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn (visible in the photo above) are also by MacMonnies. See my book Artist-Entrepreneurs for more on MacMonnies’s life and works.
• For more art in Prospect Park, see my four-part series starting here.
• The subjects for my current series of blog posts are works I haven’t yet written about from among the outdoor sculptures in New York City. I’m posting New York’s outdoor sculptures in chronological order on my Instagram feed.
• In Getting More Enjoyment from Sculpture You Love, I demonstrate a method for looking at sculptures in detail, in depth, and on your own. Learn to enjoy your favorite sculptures more, and find new favorites. Available on Amazon in print and Kindle formats.
• Want wonderful art delivered weekly to your inbox? Check out my free Sunday Recommendations list and rewards for recurring support: details here.