Owl's Head Park and the Bliss Mansion therein, 1929.

The house seen here at the edge of Owl's Head Park was built pre-1850 by Henry C. Murphy. Murphy was a Brooklyn native and career politician who served as Mayor of Brooklyn, U.S. Representative, U.S. Minister to the Hague, and New York State Senator. It was during his tenure as State Senator that he drafted and signed the bill which authorized the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. He also founded and was an editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

The home was purchased in 1866 by Eliphalet W. Bliss, the manufacturer whose huge factory was located in Brooklyn Heights/DUMBO. Bliss died in 1903 and in his will he offered his million-dollar property to the city for the low price of $835,000 with the stipulation that it would be used solely for parkland. The area became an official park in 1928, though the mansion, stables, and other estate buildings were not fully demolished until 1940.