stewartny.html

The Carousel horse image is from Stewart Park

1893-The ISR trolley begins operating, and links the hills to flats.

1893-The Cayuga Lake Electric Railway Company runs a trolley to Cayuga Lake. In June, Renwick Park opens. On July 4th, 12,000 people celebrate Independence Day at the park. On August 2, the restaurant pavillion is complete. Renwick pier is built for steamboat excursions.1894 The Renwick Park dancing pavillion, bandstand, water tower and other structures, all designed by architects Vivian and Gibb, are complete.

1895-The Black Diamond Express begins its daily travel through Ithaca. At Renwick Park, a stage is added to the dancing pavillion, making it Ithaca's first vaudeville theater. The Cascadilla boathouse, begun in 1894, is completed. In Ithaca, the city's first sewer system is open for public use.

1898-Renwick Park adds a projection booth to the dancing pavillion and becomes site of Ithaca's first motion picture theater. A new passenger terminal for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company is built on the site of their previous depot.

1898-Observation trains carry several thousand visitors along the east shore to view a Memorial Day race between Cornell's crew and Pennsylvania. Edward G. Wyckhoff buys Ithaca Street Railway and takes over management of Renwick Park.

1899-First car in Ithaca.1901-02 Severe floods.

1903-The steamer 'Horton' provides services to cottagers from Renwick Pier until 1925, and also serves as the official finish boat for Cornell crew races.

1904-The rowing race between Cornell and Harvard draws the largest crowd in Cornell rowing history. 32 flat cars are used for the observation train, and the course has to be expanded from 2 miles to 5 miles.

1905-Another serious flood.

1906-City acquires some of the land at present day Cass Park. The Inlet is dredged and straightened for the Barge Canal.

1908-ISR sold to Albert Flint, who then sells Renwick Park to a group of local men who form the Renwick Park and Traffic Association. Despite their efforts, Renwick Park experiences a decline and is closed in 1915.

Stewart Park was originally part of the James Renwick estate. It was military lot No. 88 which had been granted to Andrew Moody of the Revolutionary Army on July 9, 1790. It was then sold to James Renwick on December 12, 1790 and remained in that family, undeveloped, for 104 years. In the early 1890's, two separate events occurred that resulted in what is known today as Stewart Park. Land was purchased by the Cascadilla School to develop athletic facilities followed by the construction of a trolley line to the lake and the development of an amusement park by the Cayuga Lake Electric Railway Company. The purchase of 40 acres between the Cascadilla School property and the hamlet of Port Renwick was developed into Renwick Park which opened to the public in 1894. The park contained a zoo, a merry-go-round, and the renovation of the dance pavilion for use as Ithaca's first vaudeville theater. In 1908, due to the decrease in ridership, the Cayuga Lake Electric Railway Company was dissolved and the Renwick Park and Traffic Association was formed to replace it. Sometime around 1915, trolley access to the park was discontinued. At this same time, 55 acres south of the park were set aside as a bird sanctuary and maintained by the Cayuga Bird Club. This area was named after the club's president upon his death in 1927 and became known as Fuertes Bird Sanctuary. In 1915, the park officially closed and was leased by Theodore and Leopold Wharton for use as a film studio until 1919. In 1920, there was a renewed interest in the park for use as a lakeside municipal park by the then mayor, Edwin C. Stewart. The City purchased the park from the Renwick Park and Traffic Association in 1921. One month before the park's formal opening, Mayor Stewart died and the park was renamed Stewart Park in his honor. In 1923, the City purchased the Cascadilla School property which was incorporated into the park. A Master Plan for the park was completed in 1934 and the present layout of the park, although the master plan was never completed, reflects many of the ideas presented in that design.

Today, Stewart Park is a regionally active park with several facilities including tennis courts, a playground with several play structures including a carousel, athletic fields, a duck pond, a spray pool, a municipal golf course, and a bird sanctuary.

Swimming occurred in Stewart Park for a brief time prior to any beach or water safety requirements.

----- as well as Stewart Park, which had been occupied by a steamboat landing, private amusement park and bathing beach, vaudeville theater and a movie studio, complete with a powder magazine for special effects.

1921-Stewart Park opens on July 4th.

1925-Inlet "beautification" - 8 remaining squatters, including 2 families and an aged couple moved to houses on Floral Avenue.

1927-At Stewart Park, a flagpole monument set in a formal garden designed by Arthur Gibb is erected to the memory of Mayor Stewart. Cayuga Bird Club president Louis Agassiz Fuertes dies and the bird sanctuary is named in his honor.

1927-Augusta Williams deeds Brindley Park to the City.1932 A new brick chapel is built for the Inlet Beebe Mission. A paved 2750' runaway at Ithaca Municipal Airport (the first in central New York State) is opened, along with a modern hangar.

1933-A Work Relief project begins creating Newman Municipal golf course on an old ash dump site.

1934-Full plan for Stewart Park finished. Dredging and infill operations raise the level of the park by 2-4 feet.

1935-The west end and the Inlet neighborhood are hit particularly hard by a severe flood July 7th. City trolleys make their final runs.

1945-Robinson Aviation Corp starts daily Ithaca - NYC air service.

1947-County airport on the Hill opens, taking away much of the Inlet Airport activity.

1950-City approves Route 13.

1958-The present day Collyer Cornell boathouse opens.

1959-Black Diamond line ends.1960 Inlet flood control project is part of Federal Flood Control Act.

1961-All passenger rail service to Ithaca ends. Swimming is discontinued at Stewart Park due to pollution and turbidity of water.

1964-Funding approved and work by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers begins.

1966-Municipal Airport on the Inlet closes.

1970-Flood control channel completed. 55 private homes are demolished for the channel, as are the Westside House, the Beebe Community Chapel and Williams Playground. Part of Brindley park remains including the water fountain. Park Road is built. The infamous Octopus is formed.

1971-Cass Park is developed. Ice Rink opens in November 1972, the pool and ball fields in the summer of 1973. Southern portion of Cass Park is on land filled in by flood control channel project. The state takes over and develops the marina.

1975-Hangar theater opens, although efforts to create a Center for Performing Arts on the site fail.

1982-Part of Ithaca festival festivities take place at Stewart Park. This annual festival draws a few thousand people to the park each summer.