Volunteers for Isham Park invites you to attend an initial meeting to discuss and initiate the process of "Six to Celebrate":
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Auditorium of the Inwood Branch of the New York Public Library
4790 Broadway, block north of Dyckman Street
As announced in this blog in late December 2010, an application for "Six to Celebrate" on behalf of Inwood, Manhattan, was submitted to the Historic District Council (HDC) by Volunteers for Isham Park with the result that Inwood was selected as one of the "Six."
The HDC is assisting The Volunteers for Isham Park and the community of Inwood, who will record and describe the history of the built environment. This may lead, after a long process, to the creation of a historic district. Even if a district is never created, the process of detailed historic description of the built environment will be of benefit to the community of Inwood, Manhattan and the City of New York.
Last September, we described how, as part of our mission, members of Volunteers for Isham Park researched the history of Isham Park and its crucial role in the development of Inwood. Contemporary newspaper accounts reveal that the land for Isham Park was given by Julia Isham Taylor and her aunt, Flora Eliza Isham, for its views of the surrounding area, as it is a natural and central highpoint. Also revealed is the fact that their gifts of land for Isham Park in 1911-12 re-ignited the discussion surrounding the purchase of land by the City for Inwood Hill Park, which eventually came about in 1916.
All of this is well documented in news articles in The New York Times. The built environment of Inwood was forever changed by the courageous acts of these two women. Inwood has, as a result, some of the most beautiful park land and view corridors in New York City.
On this beautiful Earth Day morning, we ask that you commit time to share in the exciting process of the historic discovery of Inwood.
