Highest point in Manhattan Bennett Park Hudson Heights composite

Bennett Park New York Manhattan Fort Washington Memorial Mark

Bennett Park, also known as James Gordon Bennett Park, is a public park in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, named for

James Gordon Bennett, Sr. James Gordon Bennett Sr. (September 1, 1795 – June 1, 1872) was the founder, editor and publisher of the '' New York Herald'' and a major figure in the history of American newspapers. Early life Bennett was born to a prosperous Roman Catholi ...

, the newspaper publisher who launched the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

'' in 1835. It is located between Pinehurst and

Fort Washington Avenue Fort Washington Avenue is a major north-south street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. It runs from Fort Tryon Park to 159th Street, where it intersects with Broadway. It goes past Bennett Park, the highest natural point in ...

s and West 183rd and 185th Streets in the Hudson Heights neighborhood of Washington Heights in northern

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, on land purchased by Bennett in 1871, the year before his death. It sits opposite the northern Fort Washington Avenue entrance to the 181st Street subway station on the

IND Eighth Avenue Line The IND Eighth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in New York City, United States, and is part of the B Division of the New York City Subway. Opened in 1932, it was the first line of the Independent Subway System (IND), and the ''Eighth Avenu ...

, serviced by the . Bennett, Sr. passed ownership of the land – which included the site of Fort Washington, from which the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

delayed the advance of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

troops in 1776 – to his son, James Gordon Bennett, Jr., who in 1901 allowed the

Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American Congressional charter, congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky. A non-prof ...

to erect a marble, bronze and granite

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

''. Retrieved June 21, 2022 This was dedicated in 1901 and is now located on the eastern perimeter wall of the park. Bennett intended to donate the land to the city for use as a park, but died in 1918 without adding that bequest to his will. The land was therefore divided for sale, but the request of the

American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society The American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society was created in 1895 as New York’s first organized preservation lobby. The Society operated as a national organization to protect the natural scenery and the preservation of historic landmark ...

that the part of the property where Fort Washington stood be preserved was honored. In 1928, the site was acquired by the city, and, with additional land, was turned over to the Parks Department. The park opened in 1929. In 1932, in commemoration of the bicentennial of the birth of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

, the Washington Heights Honor Grove Association planted an American elm tree, which is indicated with a marker. Other memorials in the park include the Emilio Barbosa Memorial, given in 1996 by Joseph Barbosa to honor his father, who died on the USS ''Nevada'' at

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

in 1945. On the west side of the park lies an outcropping of

Manhattan schist Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

which is the highest natural point in

– above sea level – with a square stone marker attesting to the fact. The schist is part of the bedrock foundation of New York City, which allows the construction of

skyscrapers A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

where it lies close to the surface. The park's playground was constructed in the 1940s, and service buildings were added in 1964. Bennett Park hosts a variety of events, such as the Revolutionary War Reenactment, which Redcoats and George Washington's army actors converge and fight in the park, reenacting the battle of Fort Washington. An annual Harvest Festival is held in the park's field. As part of the "Northern Manhattan Parks 2030 Master Plan", devised in 2010–11, the playground and comfort station in Bennett Park will be reconfigured to "improve sight-lines and play value." In addition, the condition of the park's perimeter will be improved.

Gallery

File:Fort Washington Stele 20211113 190020437.jpg, Badge on front of the Fort Washington stele File:Fort Washington 20211113 190302903.jpg, Cannon, part of the Fort Washington memorials File:Barbosa WWII memorial 20211113 191007463 plaque.jpg, Barbosa WWII memorial

References

External links

Fort Washington/Bennett Park, Manhattan's Highest Point
{{Protected areas of New York City Parks in Manhattan Washington Heights, Manhattan