|
Downing Park is a 35-acre landscape park located at Carpenter Ave/3rd Street (one block from 9W) in the heart of the City of Newburgh, NY 12550 in Orange County.
From City of Newburgh: "Downing Park is a 35-acre landscape park located in the heart of the City of Newburgh. Filled with hills and valleys, streams, a pond, and a rich variety of vegetation, the park has serpentine paths and picturesque vista - features very similar, though on a different scale, to those of New York City's Central Park, created by the same designers.
"The park was named after Newburgh's native son Andrew Jackson Downing, eminent horticulturist and pioneer of the public park movement. Downing had advocated for the creation of Central Park, and he was designing the Mall in Washington, D.C., at the time of his accidental death at 38 in 1852. A decade earlier, Downing had recruited Calvert Vaux in London and brought him to Newburgh, where the two ran an architectural practice until Downing's death.
"Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted had worked together for many years on Central Park and other projects when the City approached them about the park in Newburgh. In 1889 they agreed to the commission, offering to give the park design to the City if the park would be named after their late mentor.
"As it happened, Downing Park was the last collaborative effort by Olmsted and Vaux — as well as the only project that included both their sons, John Olmsted and Downing Vaux.
"Downing Park was designed to be a passive, contemplative environment, a place of refuge in the center of bustling city.
"Opened in 1897, the park became a place where people could stroll along the paths, admire the many gardens and scenic vistas created to experience an 'unbending of one's faculties' (Commissioner's Report 1897). Concerts were held here, and the park was a favorite meeting place for sweethearts. Families picnicked on the rolling hillsides and watched the children play in the grassy meadows.
"During the winter months, ice skating and sledding were popular pastimes. Many local artists have memorialized skating parties on the Polly Pond in paintings and prints."
A Bit of History about Downing Park
In 1934 local architect Gordon Marvel designed the stone Shelter House on the eastern shore of Polly Pond as a place to change into skates and enjoy cups of hot chocolate during the cold winter months . . . The Shelter House is now the City of Newburgh's first Visitors Center and hosts a variety of community meetings and local art displays each month.
The outdoor amphitheater was constructed in 1946 and was a site for weekly band concerts for many years. Originally designed with a goldfish filled moat at the front of the stage, this area isthe center of our community day events and concert series.
Press blue button
for more information about Downing Park in Newburgh, New York.
Things To Do at Downing Park
Amphitheatre
Art Exhibits
Concerts
Farmers Markets
Festivals
Gardens
Picnicking
Scenic streams and ponds
Walking
Winter Activities
Ice Skating
Sledding
Location: Newburgh
|