Marine Park is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood lies between Flatlands and Mill Basin to the east, and Gerritsen Beach, Midwood, and Sheepshead Bay to the south and west. It is mostly squared off in area by Gerritsen Avenue, Flatbush Avenue, Avenue U and Kings Highway. The neighborhood's eponymous park is the largest public park in Brooklyn. Charles Downing Lay won a silver medal in town planning at the 1936 Olympics for the planning of Marine Park. Marine Park is largely inhabited by people of ethnic groups such as Italian Americans, Irish Americans, Greek Americans, and Jewish Americans. The area is part of Brooklyn Community Board 18. History The neighborhood is situated around Gerritsen Creek, the westernmost inlet of Jamaica Bay; the creek's path within the neighborhood was covered in 1920. During the last 5,000 years, strips of sand were deposited by ocean currents. These beach strips form a surf-barrier and allow salt marshes to thrive: The area was a hunting and fishing ground for Native Americans from the nearby village of Keshawchqueren. Pits for cooking and preparing food dating from 800 to 1400 AD were uncovered in Marine Park, along with deer and turtle bones, oyster shells, and sturgeon scales. In the 17th century, the Dutch began to settle in the area, which had similarities to the marshland and coastal plains of the Netherlands. The land proved to be fairly good farmland and there was an abundance of clams, oysters, and game from the region as well. One of the oldest houses in the neighborhood is the Hendrick I. Lott House, built in 1720. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a New York City designated landmark. In the 18th century, George Washington made a stop for several days on the land nearby. There was a gristmill on the water at the time. As early as 1910, developers began dredging ports within Jamaica Bay in an effort to develop a seaport district there. Although the city allowed several piers to be constructed in 1918, only one was built on the former Barren Island. The pier, which was built in order to receive landfill for the other proposed piers, stretched northeast and was wide. In 1931, the city took possession of on the western side of Barren Island. That plot was combined with a tract owned by