The 75^th Anniversary Celebration of
The Bronx River Parkway Reservation
1925 – 2000

“It is impossible to classify any one of nature’s many gifts to the eye of man as the most beautiful, but the beauty of a stream, winding its way through verdant glades, picturesque meadows, stretches of woodland, is not readily excelled.”

                                 The Bronx River Parkway Commission, 1925

Spanning the heart of Westchester County, the scenic 807-acre Bronx River Parkway Reservation runs for 15.5 miles from the Bronx in New York City to the Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla. Comprised of the Bronx River Parkway and the Bronx River Pathway, along with the surrounding lands around and between, the Reservation touts a number of “firsts:” it was the first linear park in Westchester, as well as the first linear park in the country, and the Bronx River Parkway was the first parkway in the nation. It also has the distinction of being the first official Westchester County park.

The idea for the Bronx River Parkway was conceived in 1906 when the governor of New York State approved a bill creating a commission to study the question of pollution in the Bronx River, caused chiefly by a number of mills that had been built along the river in order to take advantage of hydroelectric power. The Parkway Commission’s intent was to preserve the river and to solve the waste problem by creating a parkway, which would provide access to the river for nearby municipalities and enable them to enforce sanitary regulations.

Over a period of 20 years, 1,338 separate parcels of every conceivable size, shape and value were acquired to construct the parkway.  Over 150 separate sources of river pollution were identified and corrected, and some 370 buildings were sold or removed as well. Approximately 17,000 dead trees were removed, and more than 30,000 new trees and 140,000 shrubs were planted along the route, giving it a park-like setting.

On November 5, 1925, having laid 369,000 yards of pavement, over a period of 20 years, at a cost of $16.5 million, the Bronx River Parkway was officially dedicated and opened to the public. The original Parkway Commission was dissolved, and administration of the new Parkway was turned over to the Westchester County Park Commission, a predecessor to today’s Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation.

Today, hundreds of thousands of motorists use this scenic roadway to commute to and from New York City and its suburbs on weekdays, or as a scenic drive in the country on weekends.