Van Cortlandt Park
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
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/
Van Cortlandt Park Alliance
Van Cortlandt Park Alliance
Van Cortlandt Park Alliance
Van Cortlandt Park Alliance
Van Cortlandt Park Alliance