Description
Book SynopsisHow the famous and not-so-famous like-minded citizens all gave their time, expertise, and money to build a park legacy of incomparable benefitThe Palisades park and historic site system in New York and New Jersey is a significant anchor-point for the spread of national and state parks across the nation. The challenge to protect these treasures began with a brutal blast of dynamite in the late nineteenth century and continues to this day. Palisades: The People's Park presents the story of getting from zero protected acres to the rich tapestry that is today's Palisades park system, located in the nation's most densely populated metropolitan region. This is an account of huge determination, moments of crisis, caustic resistance to the very idea of conservation, glorious philanthropy, a steep learning curve, and responsibilities for guardianship passed with care from one generation to the next. Despite the involvement of men of great wealth and fame from its earliest beginnings, the Palisa
Table of ContentsForeword by Barnabas McHenry | ix
Foreword by Joshua Laird | xi
1 A Dynamite Park | 1
2 The Commission | 5
3 Upriver | 22
4 Harriman | 36
5 Legend and War | 51
6 Welch | 60
7 Bear Mountain | 71
8 Perkins | 91
9 Jolliffe | 111
10 Trail and Bridge | 128
11 Uncle Bennie | 143
12 Black Thursday | 156
13 The Compact | 173
14 The Palisades Parkway | 195
15 Storm King | 220
16 Minnewaska | 248
17 Sterling Forest | 282
18 Honor and Electronics | 332
Appendixes
A. Palisades Interstate Park Commission Parks and Historic Sites | 351
B. The Public-Private Partnership to Save Sterling Forest | 353
Acknowledgments | 355
Sources | 357
Index | 387
