Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park

Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park

View of the Bayard Cutting Arboretum

Location of Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park within New York State

Type State park, arboretum
Location 440 Montauk Highway
Great River, New York[1]
Nearest city Great River, New York
Coordinates 40°44′49″N 73°10′4″W / 40.74694°N 73.16778°W / 40.74694; -73.16778Coordinates: 40°44′49″N 73°10′4″W / 40.74694°N 73.16778°W / 40.74694; -73.16778
Area 691 acres (2.80 km2)[2]
Created 1936 (1936)[3]
Operated by New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Visitors 225,456 (in 2014)[4]
Open All year
Website Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park
Bayard Cutting Estate
Area 750 acres (300 ha)
Architect Charles Haight, Frederick Law Olmsted
Architectural style Tudor
NRHP Reference # 73001271[5]
Added to NRHP October 2, 1973

Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park is a 691-acre (2.80 km2) state park located in the hamlet of Great River, New York, on Long Island.[2] The park includes an arboretum designed by Frederick Law Olmsted for William Bayard Cutting in 1887, as well as a mansion designed by Charles C. Haight.[3]

The house at the heart of the park, Westbrook, is modeled on an English country house. Both the house and property were given to the people of Long Island by Bayard Cutting's widow and daughter "to provide an oasis of beauty and quiet for the pleasure, rest, and refreshment of those who delight in outdoor beauty; and to bring about a greater appreciation and understanding of the value and importance of informal planting".[2]

The park has a nature trail and recreational programs, and there is a food and a gift shop at Westbrook.

History

Charles Sprague Sargent, director of the Arnold Arboretum advised in developing the extensive conifer collection north of the carriage house. Some of the most mature planting was damaged in Hurricane Gloria in 1985.

William Bayard Cutting's grandfather, Robert Cutting, had been Robert Fulton's partner in the ferry from Brooklyn to New York; they married sisters who were daughters of Walter Livingston. Cutting developed railroad interests in West India; his son was a pioneer in refining sugar from sugar beets.

In 1895 Cutting and his brother installed a golf course at Westbrook, which was the first private golf course in the United States.[3]

When a fire in 1895 burned down many of the farm buildings, Stanford White was commissioned to draw the plans for a modern dairy, Westbrook Farms, with many innovative features.

Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park is one of the last remaining estates on the South Shore of Long Island. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973 as a historic district.[5]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park - Getting There". Parks.ny.gov. NYS Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park". Parks.ny.gov. NYS Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Lynn Beebe Weaver (September 1973). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Bayard Cutting Estate". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2010-02-20. See also: "Accompanying six photos".
  4. ↑ "State Park Annual Attendance Figures by Facility: Beginning 2003". Data.ny.gov. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  5. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.

Further reading

External links


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