{"nrhp_refnum":"67000009","name":"New York Botanical Gardens","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Southern and Bedford Park Blvds.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"The Bronx","state":"NY","lat":40.86230177750005,"lon":-73.8771764436512,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1967-05-28","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1967-05-28","areas_of_significance":["Education","Science"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 230-acre botanical garden district in Bronx Park, The Bronx, New York City, at Southern and Bedford Park Boulevards. It was established in 1896 and includes a museum building, a glass conservatory, a hemlock forest and former Lorillard estate buildings.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the Garden became the largest and most significant botanical garden in the United States within about 70 years. It holds one of the world's largest herbariums and the largest botanical library in the Western Hemisphere, and its research, publishing and education programs are internationally recognized. Its first director, Nathaniel Lord Britton, shaped its early growth.","narrative":"Covering 230 acres of rolling land along the Bronx River in Bronx Park, this botanical garden was established in 1896 and grew into one of the world's leading institutions of its kind. Its landscape includes a 40-acre virgin hemlock forest, a pinetum, a rose garden and a rock garden. Robert W. Gibson designed the Italian Renaissance museum building and the 512-foot glass conservatory with its 80-foot central dome. Carl Tefft's Fountain of Life stands in front of the museum. Part of the former Peter Lorillard estate was absorbed into the grounds, and the gatehouse, stables and an 1840 snuff mill survive. Under first director Nathaniel Lord Britton, the Garden built a herbarium of more than three million specimens and the largest botanical library in the Western Hemisphere. It also developed research laboratories, a publishing program and instruction ranging from children's classes to graduate training. The nomination judged it the largest and most significant botanical garden in the United States.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Robert W. Gibson (museum building and conservatory); Carl Tefft (Fountain of Life, 1905)","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance (museum building)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as having extremely good integrity. The conservatory was closed for renovations, the Lorillard gatehouse was unused and boarded up, the former stables serve as maintenance space, and the snuff mill has a visitor cafeteria.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:38.583022-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/67000009_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/67000009/6256949743-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/67000009/6256949743-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Anthony22 at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NY_Botanical_Garden.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Anthony22 at English Wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NY_Botanical_Garden.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75315645","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Botanical_Garden","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q636275"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/the-bronx/new-york-botanical-gardens-67000009/"}