Tuxedo Park is a village in
Orange CountyOrange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located at the northern reaches of the New York metropolitan area. The county sits in the state's scenic Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 731 at the 2000 census. It is part of the
PoughkeepsiePoughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
–
NewburghNewburgh is a city located in Orange County, New York, United States, north of New York City, and south of Albany, on the Hudson River. Newburgh is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown metropolitan area, which includes all of Dutchess and Orange counties. The Newburgh area was...
–
MiddletownMiddletown is a city in Orange County, New York, United States. It lies in New York's Hudson Valley region, near the Wallkill River and the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains. Middletown is situated between Port Jervis and Newburgh, New York. The city's population was 25,388 at the 2000 census...
, NY
Metropolitan Statistical AreaThe Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties in New York's Hudson Valley, with the cities of Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, and Middletown, and the Arlington census-designated place as...
as well as the larger
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
–
NewarkNewark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
–
BridgeportBridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
, NY-
NJNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
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CTConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
-
PAThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
Combined Statistical AreaThe New York metropolitan area, also known as Greater New York, or the Tri-State area, is the region that composes of New York City and the surrounding region...
. The name is derived from a Native American word of the
LenapeThe Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
language,
tucsedo, which is said to have more than one meaning.
Tuxedo Park is a village within the southern part of the town of
TuxedoTuxedo is a town located in Orange County, New York. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 3,334. The town is in the southeastern part of the county. NY Route 17 and the New York State Thruway pass through the town...
, near
New York Route 17New York State Route 17 is a state highway that extends for through the Southern Tier and Downstate regions of New York in the United States...
and the
New York State ThruwayThe New York State Thruway is a system of limited-access highways located within the state of New York in the United States. The system, known officially as the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway for former New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, is operated by the New York State Thruway Authority and...
.
History
What is now the village and the areas immediately surrounding it, were developed as a resort for Blue blood society in 1885 by
Pierre Lorillard IVPierre Lorillard IV was an American tobacco manufacturer and thoroughbred race horse owner.-Biography:...
on property acquired by his grandfather,
Pierre Lorillard IIPierre Lorillard II also known as Pierre Lorillard Jr., was an American tobacco manufacturer, industrialist, banker, businessman, and real estate tycoon.-Biography:...
in 1790. At that time it became known as
Tuxedo Park. The Park is located in the Ramapo Mountains and had acquired a reputation for undeveloped iron mines and, in consequence, a company formed in England and headed by
Lord SterlingLord Sterling can refer to:* Jeffrey Sterling, Baron Sterling of Plaistow, British peer and former chairman of P&O* William Alexander, claimed the title of Earl of Stirling, American Revolutionary War general* Jonathan Agnew, Lord Of Hillsborough...
acquired a large tract in the neighborhood. The company built furnaces near Ringwood and on the Ramapo River and opened mines near Sterling Lake. Peter Lorillard organized the
Tuxedo Club and the Tuxedo Park Association, as hunting and fishing preserve, and surrounded the property with a high game fence. This fence marked fairly accurately the present boundaries of the area restricted to use of the residents of Tuxedo Park. In 1924 the Tuxedo Securities Corporation acquired from the Estate of Peter Lorillard, deceased, all of the stock of the Tuxedo Park Association.
The original club house, designed by
Bruce PriceBruce Price was the American architect of many of the Canadian Pacific Railway's Château-type stations and hotels...
, was built in 1886 and was then replaced by a second club house in 1928, which was designed by
John Russell PopeJohn Russell Pope was an architect most known for his designs of the National Archives and Records Administration building , the Jefferson Memorial and the West Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.-Biography:Pope was born in New York in 1874, the son of a successful...
. This building was destroyed by fire in 1943, and was partially rebuilt soon thereafter.
The Shingle style houses Price built at Tuxedo, with their compact massing and axial plans influenced several young architects including
Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
.
Queen AnneThe Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
architecture with Tudor elements became popular for residences.
Tuxedo Park enjoyed many prosperous years from 1885 until the 1920s. The "Blue Book of
EtiquetteEtiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group...
" was written by
Emily PostEmily Post was an American author famous for writing on etiquette.-Background:Post was born as Emily Price in Baltimore, Maryland, into privilege as the only daughter of architect Bruce Price and his wife Josephine Lee Price of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania...
, who was the daughter of
Bruce PriceBruce Price was the American architect of many of the Canadian Pacific Railway's Château-type stations and hotels...
. She wrote the book based on what she observed inside the great stone gates of Tuxedo. Many other Tuxedo notables from that era include:
- Grenville Kane - banker, heir, and longtime resident
- Dorothy Draper
Dorothy Draper was an American interior decorator. She helped inspire a generation of home improvement devotees with her 1939 book Decorating is Fun!, subtitled "How to Be Your Own Decorator". Her style was very anti-minimalist, and would use bright, exuberant colors and large prints that would...
- famed interior designer
- Adele Colgate - heir to the Colgate/Palmolive fortune
- George Fisher Baker - Banker
- JP Morgan - Banker
- Alfred Lee Loomis
Alfred Lee Loomis was an American attorney, investment banker, philanthropist, scientist/physicist, pioneer in military radar usages, inventor of the LORAN or Long Range Navigation System, and lifelong patron of scientific research...
- scientist and subject of the Jennet Conant book, "Tuxedo Park"
- William Waldorf Astor
- Herbert C. Pell, and
- Augustus Juilliard
Augustus D. Juilliard was an American businessman whose philanthropy built the renowned conservatory of dance, music, and theatre in New York City that bears his name, The Juilliard School.-Career:...
- Millicent Rogers
Mary Millicent Abigail Rogers , better known as Millicent Rogers, was a socialite, fashion icon, and art collector...
During the 1920s a new hospital and a high school were built through the generosity of a few Tuxedo Park residents, including
John Insley BlairJohn Insley Blair was an American entrepreneur, railroad magnate, philanthropist and one of the 19th century's wealthiest men.-Biography:...
. In the years following the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, however, Tuxedo Park lost many of its
socialiteA socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
s and wealthy inhabitants, but attracted a few new ones, as well. One of the new residences was built by Angier Biddle Duke, (cousin to
Doris DukeDoris Duke was an American heiress, horticulturalist, art collector, and philanthropist.-Family and early life:...
), whose father-in-law, George Baker St. George, was an original resident of Tuxedo. Mr. St. George purchased and built Mr. Duke and his wife, Priscilla St George, a new estate. This estate was the last built in Tuxedo by the old "Blue Blood Elite". While Mr. Duke & his wife were traveling abroad, as most elites did at that time, Mr. St. George had landscape architect Arthur P. Kroll landscape the elaborate property. By the time the Dukes returned from Europe, the property had been transformed and appeared to have been there for over 100 years.
The area known as Tuxedo Park separated from the Town of Tuxedo and became incorporated in 1952, adopting the village form of government. Today it comprises 2050 acres (8.3 km²), of which 355 acres (1.4 km²) includes three lakes, and about 340 housing units in 320 structures. Other newer housing developments include the Southfields Apartments built in 1971 on the site of a former bed factory, the Mountain View Apartments near the Sloatsburg line, and the Woodlands in Eagle Valley.
Non-residential facilities located within the community include the International Paper Research Center, the "Loomis Laboratory" of
Alfred Lee LoomisAlfred Lee Loomis was an American attorney, investment banker, philanthropist, scientist/physicist, pioneer in military radar usages, inventor of the LORAN or Long Range Navigation System, and lifelong patron of scientific research...
, the Red Apple Rest, and the Sterling Forest Ski Area.
The evening dress for men now popularly known as a
tuxedoA tuxedo is a type of semi-formal dress for men.Tuxedo may also refer to:-Places:Canada* Tuxedo, Winnipeg, Manitoba, a city neighborhood** Tuxedo , a provincial electoral district in Manitoba...
(sometimes formally termed
black tieBlack tie is a dress code for evening events and social functions. For a man, the main component is a usually black jacket, known as a dinner jacket or tuxedo...
attire), takes its name from Tuxedo Park, where it was said to have been worn for the first time in the United States, by Griswald Lorillard at the annual
Autumn Ball of the
Tuxedo Club founded by
Pierre Lorillard IVPierre Lorillard IV was an American tobacco manufacturer and thoroughbred race horse owner.-Biography:...
, and thereafter became popular for formal dress in America. It became known as the tuxedo when a fellow asked another at the Autumn Ball, "Why does that man's jacket not have coattails on it?" The other answered, "He is from Tuxedo." The first gentleman misinterpreted and told all of his friends that he saw a man wearing a jacket without coattails called a tuxedo, not from Tuxedo. This all took place at The Autumn ball, which still exists today.
In recognition of its
historicalHistoric preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
and architectural significance, the historic district was listed as
Tuxedo Park on the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on March 13, 1980. In 1982 the designation was officially presented by Oren Lehman to Mrs. Joan Richardsson Alleman, Co-Chairman of the Tuxedo Conservation and Taxpayers Association, at The Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site in nearby Newburgh, NY. The designation is proudly displayed at the Tuxedo Park Village Office.
Geography
Tuxedo Park is located at 41°12′5"N 74°12′6"W (41.201461, -74.201668).
According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the village has a total area of 3.2 square miles (8.3 km²), of which, 2.7 square miles (7 km²) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) of it (17.03%) is water.
The village is located in Orange County near its border with
Rockland County, New YorkRockland County is a suburban county 15 miles to the northwest of Manhattan and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the southernmost county in New York west of the Hudson River, and the smallest county in New York outside of New York City. The...
and is in the
Ramapo MountainsThe Ramapo Mountains are a forested chain of the Appalachian mountains in northeastern New Jersey and southeastern New York in the United States...
. West of the village is Tuxedo Lake.
The New York State Thruway (
Interstate 87Interstate 87 is a Interstate Highway located entirely within New York State in the United States of America. I-87 is the longest intrastate Interstate highway in the Interstate Highway System. Its southern end is at the Bronx approaches of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in New York City...
) and New York State Route 17 pass the east of the village, which is north of
Sloatsburg, New YorkSloatsburg is a village in the town of Ramapo in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located east of Orange County, New York and sits at the southern entrance to Harriman State Park. The population was 3,117 at the 2000 census...
.
Sterling Forest State ParkSterling Forest State Park is a 17,953 acre park located in the Ramapo Mountains in Orange County, New York established in 1998; it is among the larger additions to the New York state park system in the last 50 years...
is located west of the village, and Harriman State Park is located to the east.
Demographics
As of the
censusA census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 731 people, 291 households, and 215 families residing in the village. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 272.9 people per square mile (105.3/km²). There were 363 housing units at an average density of 135.5 per square mile (52.3/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 94.37% White, 0.69% African American, 0.14% Native American, 2.19% Asian, 0.27% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.07% of the population.
There were 291 households out of which 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.9% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.1% were non-families. 21.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the village the population was spread out with 22.2% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 37.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.9 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $91,820, and the median income for a family was $102,056. Males had a median income of $70,536 versus $46,250 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $63,538. About 1.9% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.7% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
Further reading
- Rushmore, George M., The world with a fence around it : Tuxedo Park, the early days, New York : Pageant Press, 1957.
- Sonne, Christian R.; Hempel, Chiu Yin, (editors), Tuxedo park : the historic houses, Tuxedo Park, NY : Tuxedo Historical Society, 2007. ISBN 9780978945206
- Winslow, Albert Foster, Tuxedo Park : a journal of recollections, Tuxedo Park, N.Y. : Tuxedo Historical Society, 1992. ISBN 0963469606
External links