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TACONIC STATE PARKWAY HAER NO. NY-316 Poughkeepsie Vicinity Dutchess County , , New York H^£^ BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS

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TACONIC STATE PARKWAY HAER NO. NY-316 Poughkeepsie Vicinity Dutchess County , , New York H^£^ BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS TACONIC STATE PARKWAY HAER NO. NY-316 Poughkeepsie Vicinity Dutchess County , , New York H^£^ A/y BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS XEROGRAPHIC COPIES OF COLOR TRANSPARENCIES WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA REDUCED COPIES OF MEASURED DRAWINGS HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD National Park Service Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20240 HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD TACONIC STATE PARKWAY HAERNo.NY-316 Location: The Taconic State Parkway extends for a distance of 105.3 miles through the east side of the Hudson River Valley in New York State. It passes through four counties and provides access to a series of state park recreation areas. The parkway follows a north-south course through the central sections of Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, and Columbia counties, mid-way between the Hudson River and the Connecticut and Massachusetts borders. The parkway encompasses 21.6 miles of roadway in Westchester County, 13.5 miles in Putnam County, 38.6 miles in Dutchess County and 31.6 miles in Columbia County. Designers: The Taconic State Parkway (TSP) was designed and built by the Westchester County Park Commission (WCPC), the Taconic State Park Commission (TSPC), and the New York State Department of Public Works (DPW). The Westchester County section, built in two parts as the Bronx Parkway Extension (BPE) and a short connector spur, was planned, designed and built by the WCPC between 1923 and 1932. WCPC engineers Jay Downer and Leslie Holleran were in charge of construction and WCPC landscape architects Gilmore Clarke and Herman Merkel supervised landscape development. The TSP from Putnam through Columbia counties was planned, designed and built between 1925 and 1963. This portion was designed and built by the TSPC and the DPW. TSPC Chief Engineer E.J. Howe was responsible for the earliest phases of design and construction, between 1926 and 1928. He was succeeded by James W. Bradner, Jr., who served as engineer between 1930 and 1933. Beginning in 1933, DPW Regional Manager James Bixby oversaw general construction, supervising a team of designers, including assistant civil engineer Charles E. Baker, who prepared road plans, profiles, and construction drawings. TSPC landscape architect Theodore Bowman guided landscape design throughout the development process. Construction Dates: The Taconic State Parkway was conceived in 1925 as part of a large-scale recreation and transportation system linking a series of state and county parks areas in the Hudson Valley region of New York State. The sections of the parkway in Putnam, Dutchess, and Columbia counties were constructed between 1931 and 1963. The Westchester County sections were designed and constructed between 1923 and 1932 and formally incorporated into the Taconic State Parkway in 1941. Present Use: The Taconic State Parkway's primary use is as a scenic motor parkway restricted to private passenger vehicles. Its southern section, through TACONIC STATE PARKWAY HAERNY-316 (Page 2) Westchester County to NY 55 in Dutchess County, has become a heavily traveled commuter thoroughfare. From mid-Dutchess County to its northern terminus at Interstate 90, the TSP retains the qualities of a scenic motor parkway designed for recreational driving. Present Owner: New York State Department of Transportation Significance: The Taconic State Parkway represents an important development in the evolution of American transportation planning, park development, and roadway design. Conceived in the 1920s during the height of America's parkway-building boom, the post-war construction remained true to early parkway principles of prpmoting outdoor recreation, showcasing picturesque scenery, stimulating economic growth, and maintaining sensitivity to natural terrain and regional landscape qualities. Some observers characterized it as the culmination of classic parkway development strategies, extending parkway development to a regional scale and accommodating relatively high-speed motor traffic. The TSP has a national reputation as one of the most sophisticated interpretations of parkway and divided highway design in the United States. Project Information: Documentation of the Taconic State Parkway was undertaken during the summer of 1999 by the Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) a division of the National Park Service, E. Blaine Cliver, Chief. The project was sponsored by the New York State Department of Transportation Region 8, Robert A. Dennison, P.E., Regional Director. Research assistance was provided by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), Bernadette Castro, Commissioner. Project supervisor was Christopher Marston, HAER architect. Timothy Davis, HAER historian, supervised the research team. The summer 1999 documentation team consisted of architectural supervisor Sara Sweeney (University of California, Berkeley), architectural technicians Lauren Bostic (University of Virginia) and W. Pete Brooks (Yale University). Leonard Warner (San Francisco State University) served as field supervisor. The historic overview was written by historians Leonard Warner (parkway planning, design and construction) and Kathleen LaFrank (OPRHP) (parks, roads, and the TSPC) and edited by Timothy Davis. Large-format photographs were produced by David Haas. TACONIC STATE PARKWAY HAERNY-316 (Page 3) TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 DESCRIPTION 5 Topography 6 Alignment 8 Interchanges and Intersections 9 Bridges 9 Surface 11 Curbs 11 Drainage System 11 Service Stations and Rest Areas 12 Maintenance Areas 13 Guiderails 13 Signage 13 Parks 14 BEGINNINGS OF THE NEW YORK STATE PARK SYSTEM 15 A STATE PARK PLAN FOR NEW YORK 18 NEW YORK STATE COUNCIL OF PARKS 20 PARKWAY PRECEDENTS 21 THE REGIONAL PLAN FOR NEW YORK 28 NEW YORK STATE PARKS AND PARKWAYS SYSTEM 29 DEVELOPING A VISION FOR TACONIC STATE PARKWAY 32 The Taconic State Park Commission 32 Establishing Priorities 35 Defining the TSP: General Goals, Design Character, and Scope 37 PLANNING THE TACONIC STATE PARKWAY 42 Determining and Acquiring the Route 42 Refining the Route and Developing the Design Process 51 BUILDING THE TACONIC STATE PARKWAY 58 Parkway Construction: 1931-35 59 Parkway Construction: 1935-38 66 Parkway Construction: 1941-49 69 Lake Taghkanic Controversy: 1945-49 73 Parkway Construction: 1948-63 77 TACONIC STATE PARKWAY: DESIGN CHARACTER AND CRITICAL APPRAISALS.. 82 PARKWAY MODIFICATIONS: 1954-99 85 THE ROAD AHEAD 92 SOURCES CONSULTED 94 TACONIC STATE PARKWAY HAERNY-316 (Page 4) INTRODUCTION This report provides a narrative history of the planning, design, and development of the Taconic State Parkway (TSP). It provides an overview of the various social, technical, aesthetic, and administrative contexts that influenced the parkway's inception and development and then details the planning ideals, transportation goals, design strategies, bureaucratic procedures, and construction methods practiced throughout the thirty-six year period of the parkway's original construction. The TSP provides an important example of the progression of mid-twentieth century recreation planning and motorway design. Over the course of its development, the TSP utilized a variety of evolving planning principles, highway engineering standards, design strategies, and construction techniques. Since the development of Taconic State Parkway was predicated on its role within a broadly conceived statewide system of public parks and parkways, this report contains an overview of the evolution of the New York State Park System, which provides important information about the parkway's broader purpose and legislative authority. Likewise, a summary of parkway design precedents helps place Taconic State Parkway within the context of other notable projects, most importantly the Bronx River Parkway and Westchester County Park Commission projects that strongly influenced the TSP conception, design, and development. Finally, this report recounts recent changes to the TSP and summarizes key management policies in effect at the time it was written. Although this report covers the history of the entire parkway, from Kensico Dam in Westchester County to 1-90 in Columbia County, it focuses on the 80-mile portion designed and built by the Taconic State Park Commission, comprising the sections in Putnam, Dutchess, and Columbia counties. Planning for this portion began in 1925, construction was initiated in 1931, and the project was deemed complete in 1963. The parkway was known variously as the Eastern State Parkway and the Taconic State Parkway until 1941, when the latter designation was officially adopted. The two Westchester County sections, which preceded the formal development of Taconic State Parkway, were originally designated the Bronx Parkway Extension and the "connector spur." This report will refer to the earlier sections under their original names (or as the Westchester sections) until 1941, when they officially became part of the Taconic State Parkway. The northern Taconic State Parkway, built under the authority of the Taconic State Park Commission, was planned both as an extension of the Westchester County park and parkway system and as an integral component of the broader New York state park system. The Bronx Parkway and Westchester County Park commissions, national leaders in parkway planning, design, and construction, had advanced the scenic automobile parkway as a particular type of transportation and recreation system based on a limited-access driveway traversing a broad landscaped
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