Submitted by Dorothea Krihak
In June the County of Union held its annual Bio-Blitz in partnership with Kean University and the Rahway River Watershed Association. Black Brook Park in Kenilworth was one of several locations observed.
This was a 24-hour intensive effort to survey the plant and animal life in Union County parks. The New Jersey Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists, led by Shawn Crouse, were also involved in the study at Black Brook Park. Black Brook Park’s Shallcross Pond was surveyed for its’ fish population. A team used large fishing nets to capture then release the pond’s fish life.
The Friends of Black Brook Park was invited to exhibit the history of the park at the efforts’ central location located at Kawameeh Park. We exhibited the Sayre history of the park’s land as well as the Olmstead history. The Shallcross history of the pond was also included.
The park’s land was designed in 1930 by the Frederick Law Olmstead landscape architectural firm when the park was a part of the Union County Parks Commission. This Olmstead landscape firm also designed Central Park in New York City and the U.S. Capitol Grounds in Washington D.C., as well as other projects.
The Sayre history of the park land is named for the colonial family that built and lived in the Sayre House in Kenilworth, the land on which Black Brook Park now stands. This Daniel Sayre homestead was built prior to the American Revolutionary War and has since been owned by the Shallcross and Locorriere families of Kenilworth.
The pond’s name, Shallcross Pond at Black Brook Park was named after the family who once owned the Sayre home. It was deeded, approximately 20 acres of land, to Union County Parks to create Black Brook Park. The black brook that runs from the pond to the Rahway River is the park’s namesake.
