Sunset in Fort Tryon Park, Sept. 2007

Fort Tryon Park is a public park located in the Washington Heights neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan, USA, 40°51.7′N, 73°56′W. It is situated on a 67-acre (270,000 m²) ridge in Upper Manhattan, with a commanding view of the Hudson River, the George Washington Bridge, the New Jersey Palisades and the Harlem River. It is also site of The Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to medieval art and culture, and home to the Unicorn Tapestries. The Cloisters incorporates several medieval buildings that were purchased in Europe, brought to the United States, and reassembled, often stone by stone.

The park was the site of the American Revolutionary War Battle of Fort Washington, fought on November 16, 1776, between 2,900 American soldiers and 8,000 invading Hessian troops hired by Great Britain. Margaret Corbin became the first woman to fight in the war and was wounded during the battle. After the British won, the fortification was named after Sir William Tryon, the last British Governor of the New York colony.

Later it became the private residence of a succession of wealthy owners, including Dr. Samuel Watkins, founder of Watkins Glen, General Daniel Butterfield, Boss Tweed and C. K. G. Billings. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. purchased the Billings estate in 1917. He hired Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., son of the designer of Central Park, to plan a park that he would give to the city. The park was constructed during the Great Depression, providing many jobs. The project included the 190th Street subway station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line (which is the closest station to the park). The park was completed in 1935. Olmstead included extensive flower plantings, including a Heather Garden that was restored in the 1980s. Besides the gardens and the Cloisters, the park has extensive walking paths and meadows, with views of the Hudson and Harlem Rivers.

The park is built on a formation of Manhattan schist and contains interesting examples of igneous intrusions and of glacial striations from the last Ice Age. The lower lying regions to the east and north of the park are built on Inwood marble.

Parts of the Clint Eastwood film Coogan's Bluff (including the final chase scene) were filmed in Fort Tryon Park.

Remnants of C. K. G. Billings estate are the red-brick pathways (partially paved-over) which are found near the entrance at Margaret Corbin Circle (190th Street and Ft. Washington Avenue), and continues down to the massively arched structure (originally a driveway) which continues down to the highway.

As the City of New York suffered severe budget constraints in the 1970s and funds for parks were decimated, Fort Tryon Park fell into disuse and disrepair and its gardens, woodlands, and playgrounds became havens for a range of illegal activities. The Park’s decline continued until the 1980s when funds became available and restoration efforts began.

In 1983, the Greenacre Foundation, in conjunction with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, engaged the landscape architecture firm of Quennell Rothschild & Partners to create a master plan for the restoration of Fort Tryon Park, including plans for the restoration of the Heather Garden that would closely follow the Olmsted design. Parks Department Horticulturist Jane Schachat and Greenacre Foundation Horticulturist Timothy Steinhoff ordered thousands of plants to reflect the varieties used in the Olmsted design.

Although the Heather Garden was designed to flower in spring and summer, plants were added to extend bloom time. Wherever possible, they laid out beds according to the original plan, taking into account vistas and the large remaining shrubs. During this restoration, Parks Department gardeners planted more than 2,500 heathers, heaths and brooms, along with 15,000 bulbs, 5,000 perennials, 500 shrubs and 5 trees. This initial restoration took three years.

The Parks' Department continued to advance the restoration of the Heather Garden and other areas of Fort Tryon Park. The Parks Department has made more than $15 mil