Washington Heights, Manhattan
Fort Tryon Park
### Fort Tryon Park

[thumb\|[The Cloisters](/wiki/The_Cloisters "The Cloisters") seen from the main entrance](/wiki/File:The_Cloisters_-_The_MET_Cloisters_-_Joy_of_Museums.jpg "The Cloisters - The MET Cloisters - Joy of Museums.jpg")
Occupying a 67\-acre area south of [Inwood Hill Park](/wiki/Inwood_Hill_Park "Inwood Hill Park") between Broadway and the Henry Hudson Parkway,[Fort Tryon Park](http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/fort-tryon-park), [New York City Department of Parks and Recreation](/wiki/New_York_City_Department_of_Parks_and_Recreation "New York City Department of Parks and Recreation"). Retrieved April 28, 2016\. [Fort Tryon Park](/wiki/Fort_Tryon_Park "Fort Tryon Park")'s history began with John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s purchase of the Hays, Shaefer, Libbey, and Billings estates in 1917 for $2 million (equivalent to $ million in ). Rockefeller hired [Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.](/wiki/Frederick_Law_Olmsted_Jr. "Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.") (the son of Fort Washington Park's planner) to design the park in 1927, and in 1931 [Mayor James Walker](/wiki/Jimmy_Walker "Jimmy Walker") accepted his donation of the parkland, to be developed primarily at Rockefeller's expense. Opening in 1935, the park's picturesque views of [the Palisades](/wiki/The_Palisades_%28Hudson_River%29 "The Palisades (Hudson River)") across the Hudson River were maintained by another Rockefeller purchase there with the aim of preventing construction, preserved as part of [Palisades Interstate Park](/wiki/Palisades_Interstate_Park "Palisades Interstate Park").

As part of his Fort Tryon donation, Rockefeller reserved  in the center of the park for the [Metropolitan Museum of Art](/wiki/Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art "Metropolitan Museum of Art") to develop [the Cloisters](/wiki/The_Cloisters "The Cloisters"). The original Cloisters museum, a collection of [medieval art](/wiki/Medieval_art "Medieval art") owned by [George Grey Barnard](/wiki/George_Grey_Barnard "George Grey Barnard") and located on upper Fort Washington Avenue, was purchased by the Metropolitan with Rockefeller funds in 1925\. After Fort Tryon Park's opening in 1935, construction began for the new Cloisters building using elements shipped from abbeys in southern [France](/wiki/France "France") and [Catalonia](/wiki/Catalonia "Catalonia"), based on designs by [Charles Collens](/wiki/Charles_Collens "Charles Collens"). Added to the [National Register of Historic Places](/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places "National Register of Historic Places") in 1978, the museum has a vast collection of [Romanesque](/wiki/Romanesque_art "Romanesque art") and [Gothic](/wiki/Gothic_art "Gothic art") art, including the *[Hunt of the Unicorn](/wiki/The_Hunt_of_the_Unicorn "The Hunt of the Unicorn")* tapestries, purchased by Rockefeller for $1 million in 1922\.

One of Fort Tryon Park's biggest annual events is the [Medieval](/wiki/Medieval "Medieval") Festival, a collaboration between the [Parks Department](/wiki/New_York_City_Department_of_Parks_and_Recreation "New York City Department of Parks and Recreation") and the Washington Heights and Inwood Development Corporation that has taken place at the park since 1983\. The event is free, relying on a mix of private and public sponsors as well as donations, and draws an average of 60,000 people for an afternoon of medieval\-themed arts, activities, and food.


Who purchased the Hays, Shaefer, Libbey, and Billings estates in 1917?