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The only project in the United States for which two generations of both the Olmsted and Vaux families collaborated, Downing Park honors the influential designer, horticulturalist, and author Andrew Jackson Downing. Underfunded for decades, the park is now under consideration to become the home of reinterred remains from a nearby nineteenth century African American burial ground. The convergence of the park’s diminished condition and the proposed commemorative landscape offers an extraordinary opportunity for stakeholders to come together to honor the reinterred individuals, while also advancing the park’s long overdue revitalization.

History

Born in Newburgh, New York, in 1815, influential designer, horticulturalist, and author Andrew Jackson Downing advocated for the creation of public parks in America and popularized landscape gardening among the nation’s growing middle and upper-middle classes. Downing’s writings greatly influenced both Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., and Calvert Vaux, who ultimately immigrated to the United States in 1850 to join Downing’s practice. The two collaborated until 1852, when, at the age of 36, Downing perished in a steamboat accident on the Hudson River.

Five years later, in 1857, Vaux invited Olmsted to join him in preparing what would eventually be the winning plan for the Central Park Competition. The two worked together until dissolving their partnership in 1879, though they later reunited to collaborate on Niagara Falls in 1885 and, lastly, in Newburgh, where they worked pro-bono beginning in 1887 on a commission to honor Downing.

Despite Downing’s prodigious impact, his home city had neglected, in the opinion of his family and friends, to adequately commemorate his legacy. In 1887 when Newburgh mayor Benjamin Odell proposed the creation of a public park, Downing’s widow, Caroline Downing Monell, and others, suggested naming it in Andrew Jackson Downing’s honor. She enlisted Vaux and Olmsted, Sr., to advocate on behalf of her suggestion.

Downing Park Planting Plan, No. 23 and No. 18, 1895. Images courtesy of Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site.

The city of Newburgh set aside a 25-acre, centrally located site for the park, which Olmsted, Sr., and Vaux visited in 1889. While the parcel offered broad, sweeping views of the Hudson River and the neighboring Hudson Highlands, the land was, as Olmsted, Sr., argued, too steep to accommodate pastoral features. The designers noted that the adjacent western plot, owned by the Water Board, was “of precisely the character needed” and inquired if they could incorporate it. Awaiting a response, Olmsted, Sr., and Vaux proceeded with preliminary studies of the site. Calvert Vaux and his son Downing Vaux (named, like the planned park, after his father’s mentor) planned the hilly eastern section while Olmsted, Sr., and his stepson, John Charles Olmsted, tackled the gentler area still owned by the Water Board. The designers integrated their respective designs, with Olmsted, Sr.’s, firm drafting the preliminary plan. The city, initially slow to advance the project, was hastened by the economic panic of 1893 and the need to create jobs. In early 1894 the Water Board surrendered land to the Park Commission and the designers were able to continue. With the elder landscape architects unable to work, John Charles Olmsted and Downing Vaux finalized the plans and superintended construction, which began in July of 1894. The 35-acre park opened on July 4, 1897, with many Picturesque elements: a great lawn, a significant water feature (Polly Pond), scenic woodlands, meandering walks, meadows, and a brick observatory. Designed by Downing Vaux, the observatory crowned the highest point in the park, affording visitors views of A.J. Downing’s beloved Hudson River. While neither the observatory nor the bandshell erected in 1905 survive, many of the original trees, the planting of which were guided by Warren Manning, superintendent of planting in the Olmsted office, still stand.

Postcard of Andrew Jackson Downing Memorial Park, Newburgh, New York. Image courtesy of Newburgh History Blog.

During the first half of the twentieth century, several structures and monuments were erected within the park. In 1908 a concrete pergola, designed by Frank Estabrook, was built on the foundation of a former farmhouse. A Volunteer Fireman’s Memorial was added to the park in 1910 and by 1920 a flagpole was inserted near the former site of Vaux’s observatory. In 1934 a shelter house was constructed on the eastern shore of Polly Pond. Designed by local architect Gordon Marvel, the structure was placed at the approximate location where Olmsted, Sr., and Calvert Vaux had hoped to situate a boathouse. A Civil War monument was dedicated that same year, and in 1946 an amphitheater was installed.

Postcard of Andrew Jackson Downing Memorial Park, Newburgh, New York. Image courtesy of Newburgh History Blog.

In the 1960s the construction of the South Street artery along the northern edge of the park altered topography and portions of the path system laid out by the original designers. The City Parks Department was eliminated by budget cuts leaving only the Department of Public Works to maintain the park. Additionally, expenditures for much-needed social services led to a lack of funding for park staff and maintenance. In 1987 a grassroots community group, The Downing Park Planning Committee (DPPC), was established to revitalize the park and contracted Landscapes, Inc. (now Heritage Landscapes) to create a Comprehensive Master Plan in 1989. The plan was accompanied by a document outlining the history of the park prepared by scholar and Newburgh native, David Schuyler. The well-received master plan was funded by the New York State Council for the Arts and resulted in more than $300,000 for park planning and improvements in the late 1990s, including the dredging of Poly Pond, revitalization of paths, installation of new benches and lighting, and renovation of the Shelter House, which was converted into a visitor center. A café opened in the Shelter House in 2018.