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PARKS 



PLATE No. 31. MAP OF THE PARKS, PARKWAYS AND RESERVATIONS OF THE WESTCHESTER 

 COUNTY PARK SYSTEM, WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK, 1926 



Westchester County is within the Metropolitan Area of New York City. It comprises an area of 286,720 

 acres and its population in 1920 was 344,436. It is a region of great natural beauty and is rapidly being developed 

 as a residential suburban area immediately adjacent to New York City. It was foreseen that unless the existing 

 open spaces and wooded areas were acquired now they might never be available again except at tremendous 

 expense. Traffic conditions also required the development of a comprehensive system of pleasure driveways con- 

 necting with major outlets from New York City and another system running across the county from Long Island 

 Sound to the Hudson River. The efficiency with which this system has been planned and the rapidity with which 

 the plans have been carried out make one of the most heartening and romantic chapters in the history of park 

 planning and development in America. In the space of about four years approximately 16,000 acres have been 

 acquired, or over 5.5 per cent of the total area of the county, and large areas have been developed and thrown 

 open to the use of the people. 



