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Highbridge Park
Highbridge Park is a public park on the western bank of the Harlem River in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. It stretches between 155th Street and Dyckman Street in Upper Manhattan. The park is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The City maintains the southern half of the park, while the northern half is maintained by the non-profit New York Restoration Project. Prominent in the park are the Manhattan end of the High Bridge, the High Bridge Water Tower, and the Highbridge Play Center.
Highbridge Park derives its name from New York City’s oldest standing bridge, the High Bridge (1848), which was built to carry the Old Croton Aqueduct over the Harlem River. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, the area was sparsely populated with scattered farms and private estates. During the American Revolution, General George Washington used the Morris-Jumel Mansion, adjacent to the southern end of the park near Edgecombe Avenue and West 160th Street, as his headquarters in September and October 1776.
The New York City Department of Public Parks acquired a 2.25-mile (3.62 km) strip of land on the Harlem River between 155th and Dyckman Streets in May 1884. Afterward, several commissioners were appointed to assess the value of existing land lots within the park. Local landowners complained about a New York state law that would force them to pay for half of the park's assessed value. A New York Supreme Court judge halted the project in 1886 following disputes over property appraisals. The park hosted the 1887 USA Cross Country Championships. In February 1888, Samuel Parsons Jr. and Calvert Vaux were ordered to prepare plans for Highbridge Park, with a main entrance at 159th Street. That June, the secretary of the city's Board of Street Opening was asked to prepare a resolution setting the park's northern and southern borders at 186th and 155th Streets, respectively. The borders were revised in December 1888 to encompass the land between Tenth (Amsterdam) Avenue to the west and the Harlem River to the east.
Three men were appointed in April 1889 to appraise 1,976 lots on the site; one of the appointees, former U.S. President Grover Cleveland, declined the position. Property owners continued to oppose the new park, speaking out against a proposed northward extension to Dyckman Street that would have cost $2.5 million. In December 1889, the Board of Street Opening formally decided to reduce the park from 79 to 52.62 acres (31.97 to 21.29 ha), running only from 170th to 181st Street. The majority of the new park, approximately 30 acres (12 ha), was to incorporate the original High Bridge Park on the same site.
The area between 190th and 192nd Streets was occupied by the Fort George Amusement Park, a trolley park/amusement park, from 1895 to 1914; its site is now a seating area in Highbridge Park. A racetrack for horses, the Harlem River Speedway, was opened along the riverbank of the park in 1898.
The cliffside area from West 181st Street to Dyckman Street was acquired in 1902, and the parcel including Fort George Hill was acquired in 1928. In 1934 the Department of Parks obtained the Highbridge Tower and the site of the old Highbridge Reservoir.
By the early years of the 20th century, upper-middle class New Yorkers would promenade along the wide boardwalks in top hats and bustles. The park provided access to the Harlem River and places for horseback riding and other outdoor sports. By the 1920s dirt and other materials from the build-up of the new Washington Heights neighborhood threatened to ruin the nascent park; a harbinger of bad times to befall the park.
In 1934, mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia nominated Robert Moses to become commissioner of a unified New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. At the time, the United States was experiencing the Great Depression; immediately after La Guardia won the 1933 election, Moses began to write "a plan for putting 80,000 men to work on 1,700 relief projects". By the time he was in office, several hundred such projects were underway across the city.
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Highbridge Park
Highbridge Park is a public park on the western bank of the Harlem River in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. It stretches between 155th Street and Dyckman Street in Upper Manhattan. The park is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The City maintains the southern half of the park, while the northern half is maintained by the non-profit New York Restoration Project. Prominent in the park are the Manhattan end of the High Bridge, the High Bridge Water Tower, and the Highbridge Play Center.
Highbridge Park derives its name from New York City’s oldest standing bridge, the High Bridge (1848), which was built to carry the Old Croton Aqueduct over the Harlem River. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, the area was sparsely populated with scattered farms and private estates. During the American Revolution, General George Washington used the Morris-Jumel Mansion, adjacent to the southern end of the park near Edgecombe Avenue and West 160th Street, as his headquarters in September and October 1776.
The New York City Department of Public Parks acquired a 2.25-mile (3.62 km) strip of land on the Harlem River between 155th and Dyckman Streets in May 1884. Afterward, several commissioners were appointed to assess the value of existing land lots within the park. Local landowners complained about a New York state law that would force them to pay for half of the park's assessed value. A New York Supreme Court judge halted the project in 1886 following disputes over property appraisals. The park hosted the 1887 USA Cross Country Championships. In February 1888, Samuel Parsons Jr. and Calvert Vaux were ordered to prepare plans for Highbridge Park, with a main entrance at 159th Street. That June, the secretary of the city's Board of Street Opening was asked to prepare a resolution setting the park's northern and southern borders at 186th and 155th Streets, respectively. The borders were revised in December 1888 to encompass the land between Tenth (Amsterdam) Avenue to the west and the Harlem River to the east.
Three men were appointed in April 1889 to appraise 1,976 lots on the site; one of the appointees, former U.S. President Grover Cleveland, declined the position. Property owners continued to oppose the new park, speaking out against a proposed northward extension to Dyckman Street that would have cost $2.5 million. In December 1889, the Board of Street Opening formally decided to reduce the park from 79 to 52.62 acres (31.97 to 21.29 ha), running only from 170th to 181st Street. The majority of the new park, approximately 30 acres (12 ha), was to incorporate the original High Bridge Park on the same site.
The area between 190th and 192nd Streets was occupied by the Fort George Amusement Park, a trolley park/amusement park, from 1895 to 1914; its site is now a seating area in Highbridge Park. A racetrack for horses, the Harlem River Speedway, was opened along the riverbank of the park in 1898.
The cliffside area from West 181st Street to Dyckman Street was acquired in 1902, and the parcel including Fort George Hill was acquired in 1928. In 1934 the Department of Parks obtained the Highbridge Tower and the site of the old Highbridge Reservoir.
By the early years of the 20th century, upper-middle class New Yorkers would promenade along the wide boardwalks in top hats and bustles. The park provided access to the Harlem River and places for horseback riding and other outdoor sports. By the 1920s dirt and other materials from the build-up of the new Washington Heights neighborhood threatened to ruin the nascent park; a harbinger of bad times to befall the park.
In 1934, mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia nominated Robert Moses to become commissioner of a unified New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. At the time, the United States was experiencing the Great Depression; immediately after La Guardia won the 1933 election, Moses began to write "a plan for putting 80,000 men to work on 1,700 relief projects". By the time he was in office, several hundred such projects were underway across the city.