Devoe Park

What was here before?

This site was once occupied by the First Reformed Dutch Church, which was built in 1705. The congregation’s property was considerable due to the 1684 bequest of the Manor of Fordham, which extended from the Hudson River to the Bronx River. In the 18th and 19th centuries, church members included many prominent Bronx families, including the Van Cortlandts, Dyckmans, Devoes, and Bayards, as well as Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe, wife of Edgar Allan Poe. Although the church building was destroyed in the Revolutionary War, a new church was built near Kingsbridge Road in 1802, the first of three edifices to stand on that site. The second church was built in 1849, and the present building was erected in 1940.

How did this site become a park?

The City of New York acquired three parcels of land for this park between 1885 and 1904. Between 1913 and 1915 the park was laid out with curving paths, entrances and stairs, an iron pipe fence, lawns, trees, bushes, plants, and thousands of tulip bulbs.

Two new playgrounds opened in 1935 and 1936. The one to the east featured a park house, benches, play equipment, a wading pool, and facilities for basketball and shuffleboard. The second was designed for small children with play equipment, a sandpit, and benches. The free play area in the center of the park opened in 1941.

The park was reconstructed in 1995, and in 2021 work began on two dog runs in the park, one for small dogs and one for large dogs.

What is this park named for?

In 1915, the site was named Devoe Park to honor the wealthy Devoe family, who congregants at the First Reformed Dutch Church and descendants of Daniel Turnier, who acquired the lower section of the Fordham Patent of 1676. In 1868, shortly before streets had been laid out, four Devoe families were landowners in the area.