Railroad Park

This park at the intersection of Courtlandt Avenue, East 161st, and East 162nd Streets in the Bronx neighborhood of Melrose takes its name from the old railroad station.

A Scottish surveyor named the Bronx neighborhood of Melrose as a tribute to Sir Walter Scott’s (1771-1832) popular work Melrose Abbey. This part of the southeastern Bronx was part of the land granted to the Morris family by the British crown in the 17th century. The family began selling sections of their property in the 1850s, primarily to German immigrant families seeking residences beyond the confines of Manhattan. The introduction of rapid transit in 1908 transformed Melrose from an isolated suburb into a bustling urban area. Throughout the early 1900s Melrose became one of the largest commercial and entertainment centers of the Bronx.

Initially referred to as “the one-acre park,” this site was acquired by NYC Parks in 1898. When it opened to the public four years later, patrons referred to the space as “the baby park” for both its small size and the number of young children who frequented it daily. In 1920, Borough President Henry Bruckner (1871-1942) officially named the site Melrose Park. Nine years later, NYC Parks opened a public public restroom on the property. 

The site includes a flagpole with a yardarm, a circular walkway surrounding a grassy area interspersed with a variety of trees. The public restroom, one of the few constructed prior to Parks Commissioner Robert Moses’s tenure, remains on site, but is currently inaccessible.

In 2001 Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern renamed the property Railroad Park, which references the Metro-North Railroad Melrose station located across the street. There is also a Railroad Park in Queens and a Railroad Playground in Brooklyn.