Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1885-08-06
NUMBER 80.
RIVERSIDE PARK
General Grants Resting Place.
Overlooking the Hudson.
A Description Of The Site and It's
Surroundings.


Mayor Grace, Of New York, received the
Following telegram from Colonel Fred Grant
on the morning Of the 18th:
Mr. McGREGoR, July 28
Mother takes Riverside park Temporary
DoIno had better Be at the same place
f. d. Grant.
When the New York board Of aldermen
met on the 2sth President Sanger informed
the board Of the decision OF Airs. Grant, aud
adopted:
Resolred, That the right Of sepulture il,
said Riverside park be and is hereby given to
General Y. r Grant and his wife upon her
demise; and be 1t further
hesolUed, That proper deed Of cessfon for
the purpose designated be prepared bT the
counsel to the corporation, when tile exact
locality and Dimensions Of the ground ara
liked; and the said deed be thereupon dnlv
executed by the city authorities
The following description of the Bfts chosen
viii 30 found interesting at this thine:
ne SITE chosen ~ on sort Of promont0ry
on the Hudson river, and is tha- -hi sast 1apfne
" land ip afaHfattanvllles the upper part dc
manhattan island The outward swell 0f Ehe
pronlont0ry begins at 122d street. ard tke
river bank returns To its regular line at 129th
street. The summit of this elevation is an
almost level plateau OF a little more than
twenty acres On THE river side the descent IN
abrupt. At its foot, zoo feet below ars the
road which runs into the West Thfrtieth street
depot. From the edge of the bluff Stone
could pc flung down to the tops DIT the cars
On the northwest is the ferry to Fort Lee
and on the north and northeast red brick
houses, stores, and manufactures Of Manhat-
tanvllle cluster around the baseof the hill Ia
steep footpath permits the pedestrian %
shorten the road from Manhattanville up.
The regular road Is the old Bloominpdale
road, made long before the Riverside bark
was planned 1t Winds up and around the
base of the hill and reaches the top to the
south of the accepted site Of the tomb
If the observer on the summit Of the hill
looks to the south. he has opened before him
the long vista of Riverside park and its III
acres OF driveWays, hewn-stone wall and an
cient oaks and NAPLES on the steep slopes Of
the Hudson river On his right are the
ever-widening surface OF the Hudson and
distant cities of Hoboken and Jersey City,
and on the left the spires and tall build
ings Of New York city disappear
ing in a haze. To the east and south
east only pasture land dotted with oaks can
be seen. 1t Is unimproved private property,
and will it is expected, rise in valus and be-
come the site of handsome villas, with lawns,
walks, and shrubbery. Manhattanville, TO
the northeast, lies in the valley running
northwest and southeast between CIaremonf
and the highland north Of 10th street.
At the bottom Of the valley 1@e
NaHN
s7The view up the Hudson to the nofl
finest view from Claremont All the 7g
ing from both the east and the west shores az
the river are clearly revealed as in "a map for
twenty miles nOrthward. On one side are
the Palisades, on the other THE heiqhts
which stretch from Spuyten Duyvil 10
Sing Sing and beyond. "a high and ill.,
regular line or hills makes the h0rfs
zon- As to the view from below, the m0nu-
ment At Claremont, If il shall be AT alI massive
and elevated, viii b. prominent object in-
the laD1scape. With glass travellers 0n
steamships arriving in Hoboken can distin-
guish it. For many miles navigators on THE
Hudson cannot miss seeing it
The spot suggests Revolutionary war nisIn-
cries Fort Lee il d bold pronlontnry ON tha
opposite side of the river, the Old fort In Gem
trail Park is on the southeast Fort Washing
ton is on the NORTH and the highlands near
West Point shut in the horizon beyond the
Tappan Zee. lt has also been pointed out that
the water front and the park. being the prop
erty of the city, must remain undisturbed for
ever No structures can be erected to break
the uniformity of the view from above and
from below. Furthermore, it is said that the
fact that the entire northern end of Riverside
Park is uuimproved is rather an advantage
than detriment to the building of the tomh
The twenty acres to be occupied are now like
aploWed field. The only Improvements there
abouts are the smooth driveway, the Care
mont restaurant, and the old-fashioned horse
she'd, with six divisions invitingly open to-
ward the road.
stThe site is remote from lines Of travel and
is nearly eight miles, air line, from the City
Hall, and six miles at least by any practicable
route from the Grand Central depot To
owners of carriages it is a twenty minutes
drive from the north end Of Central park
The driver may choose between the River
side drive direct to Claremont and the
Boulevard to ManhattanvilIe, doubling
back up the hill by way Of the
old Bloomingdale road This road however,
will doubtless be regarded and made less pre-
cipitous. Access TO the site from cross streets
above 11Gth street is to be had only at 125th
y street. The streets between are either not
cut through, or are not graded for carriages.
From down town an hour IS consumed
In riding to Claremont by the short
EST route. This route il bes tlsa west
side elevated railroad to 125th street, thence
by the 125th street cross-iown cars to the
Bloomingdale road, and thence about two
city blocks UP hill The restaurant Mayor
Grace said, il on tile site where The tomb wif
be placed, ana the old building Will be razed
10 the ground. The temporary tomb u re-
seive the body Of General Grant il To be built
,f brick near The restaurant