Description
Between 1915 and the early 1940s, the City purchased the parcels of land that make the park what it is today. The park was officially opened on May 8, 1926.
The park's western boundary is the Hudson River, and the southern boundary is 200th Street. From Dyckman Street to 204th Street the eastern boundary is Payson Avenue, from 204th to 214th Street it is Seaman Avenue, and from 215th Street to the park's end at 218th Street the eastern boundary is Indian Road.
Before becoming parkland, it was known from Colonial to post-Revolutionary War times as Cox's Hill or Tubby Hook Hill. As the current name suggests, large areas of the park are hills, mostly wooded. A number of foot paths criss-cross it, allowing easy access to Dyckman Street, Fort Tryon Park and the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway. Some of these trails are former roads leading to what were once summer estates that later were brought under the control of the city in the creation of the park. Bolton Road, which was the main drive to the Bolton estate, is now the primary pedestrian pathway within the park; its entrance marked by a sign located on Payson Ave.
Many trails were paved over and illuminated with lampposts as a project of the Works Progress Administration during the 1930s. At present, most of these path and nearly all the lampposts are in dire need of repair.
Geologically speaking, Inwood Hill Park is quite diverse, with marble, schist, and limestone all prevalent in the area. The park is next to the seismologically active Dyckman Street Fault which runs parallel along the southern border of the park. As recently as 1989, activity of this fault caused a magnitude 2 earthquake.
Read more about this topic: Inwood Hill Park
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