Palisades Interstate Park Commission

Palisades Interstate Park
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Lake Kanawauke in Harriman State Park.
Location	Fort Lee, New Jersey northward to Palisades, New York
Built	1900
NRHP Reference #	66000890
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966
Designated NHL	January 12, 1965

Palisades Interstate Park and its governing body, the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, was formed under an interstate compact in 1900 by governors Theodore Roosevelt of New York and Foster M. Voorhees of New Jersey in response to the destruction of the Palisades by quarry operators in the late 19th century. The Palisades are the cliffs on the west bank of the Hudson River across from and continuing north of Manhattan Island. The commission consists of ten commissioners, five appointed by each governor, who serve staggered five-year terms.

In 1900, George W. Perkins was appointed chairman of the newly formed commission by governor Roosevelt. He hired Major William A. Welch as assistant engineer, and in 1914 named him chief engineer and general manager. Under Welch's leadership, the Palisades Interstate Park grew from the initial 10,000-acre (40 km²) Bear Mountain State Park to the more than 40,000-acre (160 km²) Harriman State Park. By 1919 nearly a million people a year were coming to the park.

When work started on the park there were no existing models or precedents for an endeavor of its nature and scope. Welch organized a massive reforestation program, built 23 new lakes, 100 miles (160 km) of scenic drives and 103 children's camps, where 65,000 urban children enjoyed the outdoors each summer. He helped found the Palisades Interstate Park Trail Conference, which later became the New York–New Jersey Trail Conference, and he served as chairman of the Appalachian Trail Conference.

The Palisades Interstate Park was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965. The designated area includes the Palisades Park in New Jersey, the Palisades Park in New York State, and the Tallman Mountain State Park in New York State.