The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-04-28

The striking features with which
kind nature has endowed the park
have been added to by the mechanical
genius Of man, for almost within q milo
of the great tomb colossal structures
have been erected and today this part
of the city Is practically the scholastic
centre of the Metropolis, although
some OF these buildings are not yet
entirely completed. The new Column
bia University buildings on the heights.
to the east Of the park are of great
architectural beauty. Near them is
the new Barnard college. Just beyond
on the elevation of Morningside
Heights is the Teachers college; St.
Luke's hospital also overlooks these
hclghths and at night it's many lighted
windows shine like some heavenelv
constellation. Some of the heights will
be crowned with the new Protestant
Episcopal Cathedral of st. John the
Divine, which for size and grandeur.
promises to surpass anything on this
continent ana to rival the ancient
cathediuls of Europe.
With such exceptional natural ad-
vantages it is not surprising that
Riverside Park has become a favorite
summer resting place for the New
OTkeT On u warmer udy It's SlDplnS
green sides are crowded with children,
while along it's winding sheltered paths
the invalid in his carriage is frequently
seen drawing new life from the refresh
ing breezes that blow from the bay or
down through the leafyr palisades. And
when the sun sets and, the Hudson
| glmmers with the reflected light of a
thousand quickly passing portfolios the
benches in the park are almost always
filled with those grateful people who
love the silence ana who, sometimes,
| in the silence love. o .;a... ....s
| The area of the park is about 177
! acres and its exact location is on the
| bank of the North river from Seventy
! second street to where One Hundred
| and Fourth street would cut through.
Its average breadth is five hundred
| feet, but the Drive" as the park is
more familiarly known, is much broad
| er where the curves on the coast or In
land sides contribute to it's area. Rum
| ing north ii presents a series OF eleva-
tions, each rise little higher than the
last until at the summit of the hill it
| meets an abrupt descent of $50 feet.
The Drive" when originally laid out
provided for two carriage drives. q
bride path and a promenade. Bicy-
| clists have found the park a delightful
wheeling ground and are always to be
seen in great numbers on it's paths.
The history of the park is as Interest,"
ing as 1t is unknown. Before revolu
tionary times the English aristocrats
built their summer homes there and
around many a board in mansions
long since gone to decay, glasses
clinked to the health and long reign Of
George III. Modified by modern archi-
lecture. with but few traces left Of
what they were i'm earlier days, a few
of these old landmarks still stand The
many mounds along the surface of the
hill tell with silent eloquence the fate
Of their former owners
1t was net until 1872, however, that
the city acquired the property, all
though negotiations for the purchas.
had been opened in 1869. While the
natural beauties of the place were
manifold there remained much to do.
So the roadbuilders and landscape gar
deners were put to work, hut II was
not until after 1886 that the drive be-
gan to present anything like the ap-
Dearance it has today. 1t was plain 10
: tho landowner and the builder that
With the approach of business on Fifth
avenue that the seat of wealth and
fashion was bound to change, and 50
many mansions have grown up on the
; sides of the drive which materially i'm
prove its surroundings.
OF the old mansions which still re-
main in the park the Claremont, by
reason of it's size and the fact that
nearly all it's outlines are still pre-
served, is the most remarkable. II
stands on Il spot just above the old
tomb and was built in the last century
LORD Courtney, who afterwards be-
: came the Earl of Devon, lived under
it's roof and his muniticent hospitality
is inseparable from the history of the
ancient pile. Associated with II, too
are many names that shine in Ameri-
: can history, for its walls have heard
the wisdom of Alexander Hamilton
while at different times it has shell
tered the soldier!y Schuyler, the im-
: pulsive Burr and the great statesman
7 Thomas jefferson.
= Between the Claremout and the river
is q plain little marble monument
= about two feet square, which is sur.
mounted by an urn whose outlines
= have not been so duled by the storms
: of years, but that this inscription car
> ! he read: ITO the memory of an Ami.
|
2 18th, 1897, in the Fifth Year of His
= Age"
4 st. Clair Pollock Is believed to have
I been the son of wealthy English par
l ents who were visiting Lord Courtney
. when the boy died. The monument Is
G said to have been erected by Lore
= Courtney,
e 1t was good that to such spot a
;, Riverside Park such an honor should
s have come, for there the general lie'
e in the bosom of natures glory, within
d sight of a great city but beyond ii!
tumult, and amid the trees that whis
= per strange tales of old Manhattan Il
n the grateful crowd that seek thei
S shade. And for miles around his toni
h can be seen, towering above the state
II ly Hudson, a fitting tribute of the no
f tons honor to its noble dead.