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synopsis

Still bearing its name from the revolutionary war, the area of Fort Tryon became a popular 19th century destination for America’s wealthiest families to build their private estates. Most notable was Cornelius Billings’ 1903 hilltop chateau and 25-acre property. In 1917, philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. purchased the Billings estate and two neighboring properties.

Still bearing its name from the Revolutionary War, the area of Fort Tryon became a popular 19th century destination for America’s wealthiest families to build their private estates. Most notable was Cornelius Billings’ 1903 hilltop chateau and 25-acre property. In 1917, philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. purchased the Billings estate and other neighboring properties. While he tried to deed the land to the city, they refused his initial offer due to expensive development costs. With the intention of creating a public park, Rockefeller hired the Olmsted Brothers ten years later to prepare a plan and protect the elevated rocky terrain. Led by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., the firm demolished existing buildings, built new overlooks and masonry arches (see plans 00529-59 and 00529-60), and graded the uneven thin soil. Rockefeller also provided funds for the Metropolitan Museum of Art to purchase The Cloisters that were housed on the property. Collected by George Grey Bernard, the sculptor built a gallery in the northern-eastern end of Fort Tryon for the relics in the 1920s. Before the park opened to the public in 1935, the 67 acres of land required dramatic construction. Schist rock was removed from the landscape and integrated into the park’s design elements. Signature to the Olmsted name, meandering pedestrian paths, as well as the drives, were protected from falling soil by stone retaining walls (see plan 00529-213). Situated along the Hudson River, the design put emphasis on the expansive views and providing “a great number of interconnecting paths and siting places and terraces, contrived at many levels”. [Preliminary Report for Fort Tryon_1927-05-18_LOC-OAR-B-R29_00529-im.10] The park’s plantings featured heavily wooded areas and were arranged by associate partner James Frederick Dawson. Maintaining the naturalistic qualities of the landscape, over one thousand trees and shrubs were introduced, purposefully selected to thrive in the rocky atmosphere.

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