The Boston Post Road Historic District is a
National Historic Landmark District
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Places in the United States
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in
Rye,
New York
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, and is composed of five distinct and adjacent properties. Within this landmarked area are three architecturally significant, pre-
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
mansions and their grounds; a 10,000-year-old
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
site and viewshed; a private cemetery, and a nature preserve. It is one of only 11
National Historic Landmark Districts in New York State and the only National Historic Landmark District in
Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
. It touches on the south side of the nation's oldest road, the
Boston Post Road
The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts that evolved into one of the first major highways in the United States.
The three major alignments were the Lower Post Road (now U.S. Ro ...
(
US 1
U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...
), which extends through Rye. A sandstone Westchester Turnpike marker "24", inspired by
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
's original mile marker system, is set into a wall that denotes the perimeter of three of the contributing properties. The district reaches to Milton Harbor of
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...
. Two of the properties included in the National Park designation are anchored by
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
buildings; the third property is dominated by a
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
structure that was designed by
Alexander Jackson Davis
Alexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis (July 24, 1803 – January 14, 1892), was an American architect, known particularly for his association with the Gothic Revival style.
Education
Davis was born in New York City and studied at t ...
.
This district, which also has immense archaeological significance and importance to Native American, European-American and African-American heritage, was declared a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1993.
[ and ] The meadow and viewshed is one of fewer than a dozen such identified Indigenous peoples sites in all of New York State. In 2005, J. Winthrop Aldrich, former assistant to six successive Commissioners of
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (informally referred to as NYSDEC, DEC, EnCon or NYSENCON) is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protection ...
(1974–1994) and Deputy Commissioner
(1994-2003; 2007–2010), attested that the District was acknowledged to be "one of New York State's finest assets", "amply deserving the rare honor of National Historic Landmark designation by the Secretary of the Interior."
Components of the district
Included within the district are the following historic buildings, structures, and landscape features:
Jay Estate
The Jay Estate is a 23-acre park and historic site in Rye, New York, with the 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House at its center. It is the keystone of the Boston Post Road Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District (NHL) created in 1993. ...
(1745 and earlier)
The historic 23-acre Jay Estate, including its buildings, landscape, and gardens, is being restored by the not-for-profit
Jay Heritage Center
The Jay Heritage Center (JHC) is a 501(c) organization#501(c)(3), 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization incorporated in 1990 and chartered by the New York State Board of Regents to act as stewards of the 23-acre Jay Estate, the National Historic ...
. The site was added to the Westchester County
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
Heritage Trail in 2004 by then County Executive Andrew Spano because of its association with John Jay and his lasting legacy to abolish slavery through law in his home state beginning in 1777, along with the efforts of his descendants: "With respect to the abolition of slavery in New York, no New Yorker was as persistent, politically skilled, and, ultimately, as legally effective as John Jay." His legacy was complicated: while Jay was founder and president of the Manumission Society of New York, and signed legislation as governor to abolish slavery in 1799, he held enslaved African Americans as workers here until 1810. Free African Americans also worked for wages at his estates.
This house was designated as a member site of the
Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area
The Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area a congressionally designated area which includes the Hudson Valley in the U.S. state of New York from Saratoga Springs south almost to New York City. It is one of 55 National Heritage Areas in the U ...
in January 2009 because of 1) the architectural and historical significance of its buildings; 2) as significant parkland it illustrates the role of the Hudson River Valley in the modern environmental movement; 3) the site is associated with great Americans and social issues, particularly the examination of the abolition of slavery; and 4) because of its once notable formal gardens and landscape. Governor Andrew Cuomo added the site to New York State's "
Path Through History
New York State's Path Through History is a tourism and economic development initiative formed to promote increased visitation to more than seven hundred historic sites throughout the state. The "path" is organized by theme and region. It was launch ...
" in 2013 for its ongoing relevance to the historic interpretation of Civil Rights in New York.
The 1838 Peter Augustus Jay Mansion at the center of the property is owned outright by the Jay Heritage Center; it is one of two
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
residences in the larger landmarked district. The mansion is situated on the site of the childhood home of
American Founding Father John Jay
John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as the second governor of New York and the first ...
, with approximately the same orientation and viewsheds. John Jay's house was built upon the footprint of an older 18th-century farmhouse, "The Locusts". Jay's eldest son,
Peter Augustus Jay, replaced it with the current structure in the early nineteenth century. The mansion was constructed according to specifications in a contract between Jay and a builder named Edwin Bishop, and details appear to have been drawn from architectural pattern books by
Minard Lafever
Minard Lafever (1798–1854) was an American architect of churches and houses in the United States in the early nineteenth century.
Life and career
Lafever began life as a carpenter around 1820. At this period in the United States there were no ...
and
Chester Hills.
Restoration of the house is an official
Save America's Treasures
Save America's Treasures is a United States federal government initiative to preserve and protect historic buildings, arts, and published works. It is a public–private partnership between the U.S. National Park Service and the National Trust fo ...
project.
**1907 Van Norden Carriage House (designed by
Frank A. Rooke
Frank Aydelott Rooke, known professionally as Frank A. Rooke, was a New York architect who designed the historic Claremont Riding Academy and numerous other structures of significance that are either in National Historic Districts or listed on ...
)
This bright yellow Classical Revival structure serves as the Visitor Center and is open to the public.
**1907 Zebra House (designed by
Frank A. Rooke
Frank Aydelott Rooke, known professionally as Frank A. Rooke, was a New York architect who designed the historic Claremont Riding Academy and numerous other structures of significance that are either in National Historic Districts or listed on ...
)
**Tennis House (1917 or earlier)
**Cottage on Barlow Lane (18th century or earlier)
**Summer House (1957-8, non-contributing)
**Estate Cottage B (demolished)
**Bowling Alley (demolished)
**Four outbuildings (demolished)
**Gazebo (demolished)
**Gardens designed by Jay family,
Brinley & Holbrook and others; includes dry-laid stone
ha-ha walls (1822). Currently being restored and rehabilitated by
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW) is an American landscape architecture firm based in New York, Charlottesville, and Houston, founded in 1985 by Warren T. Byrd, Jr., and Susan Nelson, and led by Thomas Woltz.
History
Warren Byrd ...
.
Jay Family Cemetery (1806)
The Jay Cemetery is a private cemetery of . John Jay was buried there in 1829. It is not open to the public.
Lounsbury (1831), also known as Lounsberry or the Parsons Estate
This second
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
residence in the district has a notable library designed by
Delano & Aldrich
Delano & Aldrich was an American Beaux-Arts architectural firm based in New York City. Many of its clients were among the wealthiest and most powerful families in the state. Founded in 1903, the firm operated as a partnership until 1935, when Ald ...
. It is privately owned and not open to the public.
**Gardener's Cottage
**Carriage House and Stable
**Outbuilding with five bays
**Poultry and Wood House
**Greenhouse
Rye Golf Club
The Rye Golf Club is a semi-private, municipally-owned country club in Rye, New York, and one of five constituent properties of the National Historic Landmark Boston Post Road Historic District. The centerpiece of the parcel is an 1854 Gothic Re ...
including Whitby Castle (1854)
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
Former Chapman family residence, which has been adapted for use as the City of Rye Golf Club. Designed by
Alexander Jackson Davis
Alexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis (July 24, 1803 – January 14, 1892), was an American architect, known particularly for his association with the Gothic Revival style.
Education
Davis was born in New York City and studied at t ...
**Caretaker's house
**Pool house and golf cart garage (non-contributing)
**Starter's House (non-contributing)
**Maintenance building (non-contributing)
Marshlands Conservancy
Marshlands Conservancy is a 147-acre nature preserve in the city of Rye, New York, that is fully owned and operated by Westchester County Parks. It has numerous wildlife habitats from ponds to creeks to a large meadow area, succession forest, fres ...
(formerly Devereux Reservation, 1966)
The Marshlands Conservancy is owned and operated by Westchester County Parks. It is a nature preserve with a diverse number of habitats - several ponds, an East Stream, West Creek, open meadow, woodland,
salt marsh
A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...
, and freshwater
wetlands
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
- that attract a variety of flora and fauna. Historically, the land was part of the larger old Jay Estate and the neighboring Parsons Estate. It was formed from two separate gifts in the 20th century: one of 120 acres given by Zilph Devereux to Westchester County on November 9, 1966, and another of 27 acres given by Fanny Wickes Parsons to Westchester County in December 1977. The resulting parcel of was rededicated as passive parkland in 1997 by Westchester County so that "The natural area and wildlife sanctuary will be protected, preserved and regulated as a nature and wildlife preserve to be used only for passive recreation."
It has been recognized as an
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
.
See also
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in New York
This is a list of National Historic Landmarks and comparable other historic sites designated by the U.S. government in the U.S. state of New York. The United States National Historic Landmark (NHL) program operates under the auspices of the Nat ...
*
References
External links
*
Jay Heritage Center - Official SiteJay Family CemeteryHudson River Valley National Heritage AreaAfrican American Heritage Trail of Westchester County
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
National Historic Landmarks in New York (state)
National Register of Historic Places in Westchester County, New York
U.S. Route 1
Historic districts in Westchester County, New York
Buildings and structures in Rye, New York
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
Historic sites in New York (state)