A ceremony in Isham Park , the 2nd gathering for “Six to Celebrate”

Next Wednesday, May 25th 2011, is the 100th anniversary of the date on which Julia Isham Taylor's letter offering land for the creation of Isham Park was presented to the Board of Estimate of New York City. To mark the occasion, a ceremony and second gathering for "Six to Celebrate" will be held in the park.  Mrs. Taylor’s letter to then Manhattan Borough President George McAneny was published in the New York Times on the day following its presentation. A cake and excerpts from the Times article and other related news accounts will be shared.[1]
 
When Isham Park was finally dedicated on September 28^th 1912, the gift of land by the Isham family had already changed the shape of rapid development in the area by preserving significant land for public use on a central high point which provided open views of the surrounding landscape.  Less known is the fact that the gift of Isham Park revived the discussion of the city’s purchase of private lands on Inwood Hill for additional city parkland.[2]  So, the gift of land from the Isham family can be credited with helping to preserve a greater portion of the geologic and historic features of Manhattan Island than the often overlooked boundaries of Isham Park suggest. 

Please join us to commemorate Julia Isham Taylor’s offer of the land for Isham Park to New York City:

Wednesday, May 25th 2011 at 6:30pm

Isham Memorial, Isham Park

For more details on “Six to Celebrate” go to:  http://www.hdc.org/6tocelebrate2011.htm

For more information please contact: volunteersforishampark@gmail.com
       

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[1] Two Free Parks for a City, New York Times, May 26, 1911, Friday, page 12

[2] Plans Park for North End of Manhattan Island: Gift of Mrs.[sic] Flora E. Isham Revives the Unfulfilled Dream of Andrew H. Green for Acquiring Inwood Hill So the City Would Have a Park at Each End of the Island, N.Y. Times Sunday, March 24, 1912, (no author cited), Magazine Section Part Six, Page SM7

May 21st 2011 will be It's My Park Day again in Isham Park

Please come out and assist gardeners from Bruce's Garden and Isham Alley - in collaboration with the Volunteers for Isham Park along the Broadway side of Isham Park next Saturday May 21st 2011!

This spring we will clean up, paint fence rails and bench supports, plant, and mulch along the east or Broadway side of Isham Park up to the Isham Memorial path.

For the Partnerships for Parks description of the activities go to: 
http://www.partnershipforparks.org/get_involved/volunteer/impd_find.html?borough=M&qs=2011/05/21/its-my-park-day-at-isham-park

1st meeting for a future Inwood, Manhattan Historic District

Last Saturday April 30th, Volunteers for Isham Park held the first in a series of meetings related to the selection of Inwood, Manhattan as one of the Historic District Council's "Six to Celebrate."

The meeting, which was held in the auditorium of the Inwood Branch of the New York Public Library, drew about 20 participants who introduced themselves, described their interests, watched a slide presentation about the area, discussed pros and cons and the process involved in creating such entities, and heard a definition of "Historic District" given by an HDC staffer present.

Participants signed in and will receive e-mail updates and press releases about related future events.

One architect present has signed on to study the single family residences in the neighborhood. Others have already sent historic building information by e-mail to be added to a growing inventory of the built structures in the neighborhood.  Early last week, a local Historic Preservation Masters degree candidate volunteered to assist with the study overall and will begin contributing regular hours at the end of May.

The meeting was a positive start for the complex and painstaking process ahead. (Link to the press announcement in DNA:   http://www.dnainfo.com/20110427/washington-heights-inwood/inwood-preservation-group-takes-steps-toward-historic-district)

A second meeting is being planned for Wednesday, May 25th early evening at the Isham Memorial in Isham Park, the site at which Volunteers for Isham Park planted bulbs last fall for It's My Park Day on October 31st 2010.  Once the meeting details are confirmed, special notice will be sent out.

May 25th will also be the 100th anniversary of the publication of the first news article in the New York Times about Julia Isham Taylor's gift of land for Isham Park.  We will hold a small celebration of Julia's gift.

The Isham Memorial with its marble benches as seen last fall on IMPD

The Isham Memorial plantings this morning

A beautiful early morning photo of the Volunteers for Isham Park plantings at the Isham Memorial last October 31st was just sent in...just had to be shared with all and especially the Volunteers and passers by who worked on it!

Thank you to the Partnerships for Parks for providing event support and bulbs!  Thank you also to the Parks Gardener who is making such a vast difference in the park on an on-going basis...Thank you also the the Inwood Hill Park Rangers who provided additional native species plants now blooming in this and nearby areas.

Isham Park - Earth Day, Friday, April 22nd 2011

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

2:00pm to 4:00pm
For more information please contact: volunteersforishampark@gmail.com

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.

VIP work day on April 3rd & bulbs planted for IMPD last October 31st

Thank you! Bulbs planted around the Memorial Benches in Isham Park last October are in bloom...
Porcelain berry vines no longer threaten from the barrier fence at the north end of Isham Park...

Winter is almost over!

After a winter overdose of snow, cold, and ice, spring is coming fast.  The Volunteers have been hard at work both out of doors and inside during the past three months. 

Outside, members have continued to work with the NYC Parks & Recreation Gardener assigned to Isham Park.  Several long neglected planting areas have been cleared of weeds and pruned.  Garbage has been collected, damages were monitored and reported to Parks, so that repairs could be made in a timely fashion during the ice and snow.

The fight to remove Porcelainberry vine http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/ambr1.htm continues.  This invasive has sprung up all over Isham Park, along with Garlic Mustard http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/pubs/midatlantic/alpe.htm, and the saplings of Mulberry http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/brpa1.htm and Norway Maple http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/pubs/midatlantic/acpl.htm trees.

This coming Sunday, April 3rd, the first work day for Volunteers for Isham Park will be held at the north western corner of Isham Park along Park Terrace West near 215th Street.  This will be to clear Isham Park's northern barrier chain link fence of all of the species described above.

Please come out to assist between 10:00am and 2:00pm.   The Partnerships for Parks and NYC Parks will provide tools and supplies.  The Parks Gardener will also be with us for the first 2 hours to instruct and assist.

It is very important to control these plants before growing season is truly under way.