Van Cortlandt Park

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

Acquired by the city of New York in 1888, Van Cortlandt Park became the site of the first municipal golf course in the United States seven years later. A former plantation in the colonial era, this land had once been controlled by Lenape, Canarsie, and other Native tribes. Like the rest of the city, the park's physical and human landscape has evolved over thousands of years. Today the 1,146–acre park is the third-largest in New York City and offers connections to the region’s geologic and cultural history with over 20 miles of hiking trails. Through the lens of Van Cortlandt Park, one can learn about the natural world while gaining insight into how infrastructure develops as a city grows and changes.

Images

Van Cortlandt Lake

Putnam Greenway

Class Gallagher Trail

Van Cortlandt House Museum

Parade Ground

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Well after the Civil War, the Van Cortlandt property and plantations in the area fell into disrepair and became overgrown. The City of New York acquired this parkland in 1888 but did not name it in honor of the Van Cortlandt family until 1913. Over time, it developed some sections, added play areas, made wild areas passable, and upgraded existing features.

The first municipal golf course in the country opened in Van Cortlandt Park in 1895; a second, the Mosholu Golf Course, opened in 1914. As municipal golf courses, it was open to all residents which meant that Jewish and African American golfers had access to the course at a time when formal and informal patterns of segregation and discrimination were not limited to the South.

By a special act of the New York State Legislature, the Van Cortlandt Mansion was leased by the City to The National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York and the historic house opened as a museum in 1897 under the stewardship of ‘The Dames.’ The plantation’s wheat fields became, the Parade Ground in 1901, and National Guard used it for training exercises until the end of World War I.

In 1906, on the east side of the park, The Bronx Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution dedicated a cairn of stones as a memorial to Chief Daniel Nimham, his son Captain Abraham Nimham, and seventeen other Stockbridge Indians who were slain there during the Revolutionary War.

Sources

Van Cortland Park Alliance Website, accessed 2/1/2021 https://vancortlandt.org/visit/

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Van Cortlandt Park Alliance

Additional Information

Van Cortlandt Park Alliance