Van Cortlandt Lake

Van Cortlandt Park
Entrance to Van Cortlandt Park
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Type	Municipal
Location	The Bronx, New York City, New York, US
Coordinates	40°53′52″N 73°53′02″W / 40.8978°N 73.8839°W / 40.8978; -73.8839
Area	1,146 acres (464 ha)
Created	1888
Operated by	New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
Status	Open
Public transit access	New York City Subway: Woodlawn ( train) and Van Cortlandt Park – 242nd Street ( train) stations New York City Bus: Bx9, Bx10, Bx16, Bx34 local buses, BxM3, BxM4 express buses Bee-Line Bus System: B-L1, B-L2, B-L3, B-L4, B-L20, B-L21

Van Cortlandt Park is a 1,146-acre (464 ha) park located in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, it is managed with assistance from the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy and the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park. The park, the city's third-largest, was named for the Van Cortlandt family, which was prominent in the area during the Dutch and English colonial periods.

Van Cortlandt Park's sports facilities include two golf courses and several miles of paths for running, as well as smaller facilities for swimming, baseball, soccer, tennis, horseback riding, cross-country running, and cricket. The park also contains five major hiking trails and other walking trails. Its natural features include Tibbetts Brook; Van Cortlandt Lake, the largest freshwater lake in the Bronx; old-growth forests; and outcrops of Fordham gneiss and Inwood marble. Contained within the park is the Van Cortlandt House Museum, the oldest surviving building in the Bronx, and the Van Cortlandt Golf Course, the oldest public golf course in the country.

The land that Van Cortlandt Park now occupies was purchased by Jacobus Van Cortlandt from John Barrett around 1691. His son Frederick built the Van Cortlandt House on the property, but died before its completion. Later, the land was used during the Revolutionary War when the was destroyed by the Queen's Rangers. In 1888, the family property was sold to the City of New York and made into a public parkland. The Van Cortlandt House, which would later be designated as a historic landmark, was converted into a public museum, and new paths were created across the property to make it more passable.