Palisades Interstate Park Commission honors 100th anniversary of the Harriman family gift
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If not for Harriman donation, state park would have been home to a prison
Harriman - The unwavering support of benefactors has been critical in almost every major Palisades Interstate Park Commission undertaking since its founding in 1900. The park has relied on passionate individuals to ensure the survival of this natural oasis. Today’s beautiful park would not have been a reality without the assistance and backing of the Harriman family.
In 1908, the New York State Prison Commission launched an ambitious plan to move the Sing Sing Prison to a terraced shelf extending along the Hudson River at Bear Mountain. Construction soon progressed to the point that the desecration of historic Forts Clinton and Montgomery as well as the scenic lands surrounding Bear Mountain itself became a real possibility.
Orange County residents Edward Henry Harriman and his wife, Mary Averell Harriman, ardently resisted this plan. Harriman, who had made a fortune as a railroad tycoon, proposed to donate thousands of acres and $1 million to the PIPC if the New York Prison Board moved the prison stockade away from Bear Mountain.
However, before the prison matter could be resolved, Harriman died at the age of 61. His legacy would be carried on by his wife and his children. On Oct. 29, 1909, Mrs. Harriman deeded 10,000 acres and $1 million to the PIPC. Simultaneously, New York State turned over the adjacent tract that had been acquired for the prison to the Commission. There would be no prison thanks to the generous gift of the Harriman family.
“It is the hope that through all the years to come the health and happiness of future generations will be advanced by these gifts,” said the then 18-year-old William Averell Harriman, acting on behalf of his mother and family.
This article was provided by the Palisades Parks Conservancy Inc., the charitable partner of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. Bear Mountain and Harriman State Parks are part of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, which administers 28 parks, parkways and historic sites for the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in New York as well as the Palisades Interstate Park and parkway in New Jersey.
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| Photo provided by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission
W. Averell Harriman (right) hands $1 million check to George W. Perkins Sr. at the dedication of Bear Mountain and Harriman State Parks on Oct. 29, 1909. |
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