Rose Hill Park

Webster Ave. bet. E. Fordham Rd. and E. 194 St.

Bronx

Directions via Google Maps

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

What was here before?
This small park is a vestige of a far larger estate once called “Rose Hill” by its owner, Robert Watts (1743–1814). His lands included a tract now occupied by Fordham University and territory extending to the present-day New York Botanical Garden in Bronx Park.

In 1775 Robert’s brother John Watts Jr. (1749 –1836) married Jane De Lancey, whose family lived on the adjacent property that is now Bronx Park. In 1787 John purchased this property, which was known as the Andrew Corsa estate. Shortly afterwards, John transferred the property to his brother Robert. The latter named this area “Rose Hill” after the family seat in Scotland. The Watts then transferred this name to their manor lands in the countryside of the then forested Bronx.

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