Location: Henry Hudson Monument, Henry Hudson Park, Palisade Avenue, Kappock Street, Independence Avenue. Block: 5744, Lot: 2.
Status: Never landmarked or heard.
Description from the Bronx Survey: The Henry Hudson Monument in Henry Hudson Memorial Park at Independence Avenue, Kappock Street and West 227th Street consists of a twenty-foot pedestal with bas reliefs, column and a surmounting bronze statue of Hudson. The column and base were designed by Walter Cook; the sculpture was planned by Karl Bitter and completed by Karl Guppe.
Although the cornerstone for the monument was laid in 1909 ^the sculpture was not finished until 1958. The monument to Hudson had been first proposed by local Bronx resident William C. Muschenheim in 1909 as part of the Hudson-Fulton celebration. This state-wide event marked the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Hudson River in 1609 as well as the 100th anniversary of Robert Fulton’s use of steam in navigation on the Hudson in 1807. The monument was financed by private subscription under the auspices of the Bronx Citizens Hudson-Fulton Commission.
The Spuyten Duyvil site is historically important as the probable location of an Indian village, Nipnicsen, which was extant at the time of Hudson’s arrival. This locality was also the site of Fort No. 1, used in the Revolutionary War by both the British and American forces. Walter Cook (1843-1916), architect of the monument, was a senior partner in the firm of Babb, Cook and Willard, designers of such New York City landmark structures as the DeVinne Press building and the Andrew Carnegie house.
Karl Bitter, designer of the sculpture, was an artist whose other work in New York City includes the Carl Schurz monument at Morningside Drive and West 116th Street, sculptural figures crowning the facade of the Custom House and the figure of Abundance at the Pulitzer Fountain at 5th Avenue and West 59th Street. Bitter was killed in an auto accident in 1915, and Karl Guppe who was a student of Bitter finished the sculpture in 1938 on the basis of Bitter’s model.
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