Tag Archives: Pelham Bay Park

A Modern Man: A. J. Downing and the American Gentleman’s Country Seat

Posted on June 20, 2022 by mansionmusings

A. J. Downing (1815–1852) was full of modern ideas about landscape gardening. And he particularly wanted to create a tradition in the United States that was inspired by—but separate from—British and European precedents. He also recognized the need to adapt … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Musings | Tagged A. J. Downing, A. J. Downing and lawns, A. J. Downing Treatise, Alexander Jackson Davis, Andrew Jackson Downing, Bartow mansion, Bolton Priory, Conservatories in the 1840s, Conservatories in the 19th Century, Domestic Circle in the 19th century, Graceful Beauty, Greek Revival, Hunter Mansion, Landscape Design in the 1840s, Landscape Gardening in the 1840s, Maria Bartow Cole, Pelham Bay, Pelham Bay Park, Pelham Priory, Picturesque Beauty, Robert Bartow, Robert Bolton, Rural pursuits in the 19th century, The Picturesque, Thomas Cole, William Rickarby Miller | 1 Comment

Zelia Hoffman Does It Again: Untold Stories of the 1916 Flower Show at Bartow

Posted on May 24, 2021 by mansionmusings

Why is a long-forgotten flower show still relevant over one hundred years later? And why was a woman named Zelia Hoffman once a galvanizing force in the gardening world? A little digging into the past reveals some answers. On a … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Musings | Tagged 1916 June Flower Show, 620 Fifth Avenue, Arthur Herrington, Bartow mansion, Biltmore Hotel, Caroline Crawford folk dancing, Carrere & Hastings, Charles Frederick Hoffman, Delano & Aldrich, Demolished buildings in New York City, F. R. Pierson, Flower shows in the early 20th century, Garden clubs in the early 20th century, Gardening in the early 20th century, Grand Central Palace, International Flower Show, International Garden Club, Mrs. Charles Frederick Hoffman, Mrs. Edward Henry Harriman, Mrs. Frank Sullivan Smith, Pelham Bay Park, Wallace R. Pierson, Zelia Hoffman | 1 Comment

The Wigwam at Bartow-Pell: A Living History for Students

Posted on February 19, 2021 by mansionmusings

In 2002, the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum was preparing to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the signing of a treaty on June 27, 1654, by Thomas Pell, his associates, and Lenape sachems. This treaty signified the transfer of land, which included … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Musings, Mansion Musings | Tagged Bartow-Pell wigwam, Lenape, Lenape lifestyle, Lenape sachems, Pelham Bay Park, Pell treaty, Reproduction wigwams, School programs about Native Americans, School programs about the Lenape, Thomas Pell, Treaty Oak, Wigwams | 3 Comments

Rose Garden Mania: A New York City Garden Club Joins the Craze in 1917

Posted on July 11, 2020 by mansionmusings

Rose gardens were definitely a thing in the early 20th century. The so-called Queen of Flowers—redolent of summer pleasures—filled gardens large and small with a heady mix of colors, scents, shapes, and sizes that ranged from subtle to dramatic. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Musings, Mansion Musings | Tagged Armsea Hall rose garden, Arthur Herrington, Beatrix Farrand, Frances Benjamin Johnston, Garden clubs in the early 20th century, International Garden Club, International Garden Club rose garden, Iselin rose garden at New Rochelle, Journal of the International Garden Club, Jules Gravereaux, Madame Caroline Testout rose, Madame Ravary rose, Mrs. Charles Frederick Hoffman, Pelham Bay Park, Rose gardens, Rose gardens and World War I, Rose gardens in the early 20th century, William Adams Delano, Zelia Hoffman | 2 Comments

Reimagined: A 19th-Century American Apple Orchard

Posted on August 6, 2019 by mansionmusings

Americans loved apple orchards in the 19th century (and we still do!). Apple blossoms in the spring, apple picking in the fall, cider making, and apples served every which way have all helped to make the American apple orchard a … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Musings, Mansion Musings | Tagged American apple orchards, American apple varieties, Andrew Jackson Downing, Apple blossoms, apple orchards, Apple picking, Apples and health 19th century, Apples as livestock feed, Apples in the 19th century, Bartow orchard, Hard cider, James Bolton, New York State apples, Newtown Pippin, Pelham Bay Park, Temperance movement | 2 Comments

Sea Breezes and Business as Usual: Mayor La Guardia’s Summer City Hall, 1936

Posted on June 13, 2018 by mansionmusings

New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia smiled broadly at photographers as his motorcade reached the historic Bartow mansion at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 2, 1936. The diminutive dynamo arrived for his official duties at the new summer city … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged Aymar Embury II, Bartow mansion, Bronx Borough President James Lyons, Buck Street Bronx, City Hall Bus 1936, Fashions in New York City summer 1936, Gilmore D. Clarke, Historic American Buildings Survey 1936, International Garden Club, James J. Lyons, La Guardia Summer City Hall Brons, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, Michael Rapuano, New York City demonstrators 1936, New York City Hall press corps 1930s, New York City in the 1930s, New York City Summer City Hall, New York City WPA projects, Orchard Beach, Orchard Beach Bronx, Pelham Bay Park, Pelham Bay Park subway, Robert Moses, Russell Owen New York Times, Russell Owen Pulitzer Prize, Seddon Street Bronx, Summer of 1936, Teletype machine, WPA Bronx, Zerega Avenue Bronx | 1 Comment

Sleeping Beauty: A Romantic Ruin Awakes

Posted on January 27, 2018 by mansionmusings

In 1914, the beautiful old Bartow mansion was falling apart. Overgrown ivy crept up the walls and over the windows of the derelict old stone building. Broken glass panes allowed rain, snow, wind, dirt, insects, and small animals to enter … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged Alice Martineau, August Moebus, Bartow mansion, Bronx parks, Day Home for Crippled Children, Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, Gardening clubs, Gardening in the early 20th century, Historic houses, Historic preservation, International Garden Club, International Sunshine Society, Joseph Hennessy, Little Mothers, Motoring Excursions, Mrs. Charles Frederick Hoffman, Mrs. Philip Martineau, Pelham Bay Park, Philanthropy in the early 20th century, Royal Horticultural Society, The Herbaceous Garden, Treaty Oak, Turnbull mansion, William Turnbull, Zelia Hoffman | 3 Comments

Theodoret and Sarah: A Bartow Love Story

Posted on January 12, 2018 by mansionmusings

It was an ill-fated Gilded Age romance. Theodoret, the handsome youngest son of Robert and Maria Bartow, fell in love with Sarah Elliott Marshall, a blond Southern beauty from Natchez, and married her in 1886. Although this privileged couple seemed … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged Bartow house Merrick, Bartow mansion, Bright's Disease, George M. and Charlotte Marshall, Hawkswood, Hermann H. Cammann, Lansdowne, Levin R. Marshall, Lorillard, Pelham Bay Park, Richfield Springs New York, Sarah Elliott Marshall Bartow, St. Peter's Episcopal Church Bronx, Theodora Carlotta Bartow, Theodoret Bartow, Weddings 1880s | 4 Comments