Butler Woods

Scarsdale, New York

Location:

north of the Scarsdale railroad station

History:

A bronze tablet was placed on a large boulder in the woods:

This Forest is the gift of EMILY O. BUTLER.  To the Bronx Parkway Commission for the People of the State of New York.  Part of a tract of five hundred acres belonging to Emily O. Butler, united in one ownership by her father, Charles Butler, known as the "Fox Meadow" estate and the birthplace of Governor Daniel D. Tompkins.  In 1913 Miss Butler donated twenty-vive acres to the Parkway Commission.  This gift was of material aid in obtaining public support for the parkway.  In 1918 Miss Butler gave more than seven additional aces, including the forest and two books, in order to preserve them in their native beauty for future generations.

1920  --  Honorable Madison Grant, president of the Bronx Parkway Commission, addressed a small group gathered for the dedication ceremony in the forest.

The Bronx Parkway Commission inherited the formal gardens at Hartsdale, later referred to as Fountain Terrace Park.

1967 (July)  --  Westchester County awarded nearly $3 million to the Yonkers Contracting Company to reconstruct the Bronx River Parkway near Butler Woods, straightening 1.65 miles of serpentine road. 

1969  --  in straightening the parkway hundreds of trees were destroyed, scenic vistas bulldozed, and stone bridges razed. The rustic rigid-frame bridges at Fenimore Road and Greenacres Road were replaced with modern girder bridges faced with stone. The contractor rebuilt through the center of Fountain Terrace Park. Many citizens were outraged.  

 (Source: www.westchesterarchives.com/BRPR/report/ParkMod_4.html))

Habitats:

woodland of hemlocks and hardwood, and mountain laurel