The Putnam Trail

The Putnam Trail is what remains of the New York Central Railroad's Putnam Division, the City's first rail link to Boston via a connection in Brewster, New York. Work on the railroad began in 1870, but due to financial constraints and the panic of 1873, the line was not completed until 1880. Its demise was brought on by competition from cars, airplanes, and other railroads. Passenger service ceased in 1958, but the line carried freight until the early 1980s.

Malcolm Pinckney

Rail remnants can be seen today throughout the park -- an old station, railroad trestles and bridges, and changes in the grade. Yet the most curious of these are the 13 stones that lie along the trail's west side near a connector path to the Parade Ground. Sometime prior to 1903, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt placed the slabs here. Quarries sent exact stone samples in an experiment to determine which rock formation weathered the best. The choice building material would be used to erect Grand Central Terminal. In the end, the second southernmost stone, Indiana limestone, was chosen not for its durability but for its cheaper transportation cost across Vanderbilt's railways.

1. The Van Cortlandt House Museum
2. The Parade Ground
3. Vault Hill
4. Van Cortlandt Lake
5. The Putnam Trail
6. Old Croton Aqueduct Trail
7. Indian Field
8. Memorial Grove
9. John Muir Nature Trail
10. Van Cortlandt Golf Course
11. The Cass Gallagher Nature Trail
12. Tibbetts Brook