South of Avenue P on Brooklyn’s lovely, leafy Ocean Parkway is a foot-high rectangle of granite sticking out of the ground, with a mysterious “3M” etched into its traffic-facing side.
This curious artifact is Ocean Parkway’s last remaining mile marker.
Before the 20th century, mile markers dotted major roads, letting coachmen and riders know how many miles they had traveled—and how many more they needed to go.
This mile marker was likely one of 11 placed at every half-mile from the Prospect Park Circle to Ocean Parkway’s end at Coney Island.
It probably dates back to the 1870s, when Ocean Parkway, inspired by the great boulevards of Paris and Berlin, was built.
Sheepshead Bites has more on the history of the mile marker—as well as the mysterious disappearance of another back in June.
Ephemeral New York 