Hyde Park

1. a public park in London, England.

2. a village in SE New York, on the Hudson: site of the estate and burial place of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt. 2550

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▪ New York, United States

 town (township) and unincorporated village, Dutchess county, eastern New York, U.S. It lies on the east side of the Hudson River, 8 miles (13 km) north of Poughkeepsie and about 75 miles (121 km) north of New York City. Both the village (settled as Stoutenburgh in 1741) and town (formed in 1821) bear the name of a local estate honouring Edward Hyde, Viscount Cornbury, who was governor of New York (1702–08). Primarily residential, Hyde Park was the birthplace and home of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Roosevelt, Franklin D.); he and his wife, Eleanor (Roosevelt, Eleanor), are buried there at his family estate (290 acres [117 hectares]), which has been a national historic site since 1944. The adjacent Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum contains some 44,000 books and houses Roosevelt's papers and memorabilia as well as a collection of material on U.S. and New York state history. Nearby is the Vanderbilt Mansion, which was designed in the Italian Renaissance style for Frederick W. Vanderbilt (a son of railroad magnate William Henry Vanderbilt (Vanderbilt, William Henry)) and constructed (1896–98) on the grounds of the original Hyde Park estate. The mansion was dedicated as a national historic site in 1940. Hyde Park is the seat of the Culinary Institute of America (founded 1946). Area 37 square miles (96 square km). Pop. (1990) 21,230; (2000) 20,851.

▪ park, London, United Kingdom

      park in the borough of Westminster (Westminster, City of), London. It covers more than 340 acres (138 hectares) and is bordered on the east by Mayfair and on the west by Kensington Gardens.

 The park shares a large curved lake with its western neighbour; the portion of the lake in Kensington Gardens is known as the Long Water, whereas the Hyde Park portion is called the Serpentine. The lake is used for boating in the summer and skating in the winter. In the park's northeastern corner, near Marble Arch, is Speakers' Corner, which has long been a centre of free speech for soapbox orators. Also in the park are the Hudson Bird Sanctuary, a bandstand, large fountains, a ranger's lodge, and, in the southeastern corner of the park, the statue of Achilles (1822), which recalls the duke of Wellington (Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of, marquess of Douro, marquess of Wellington, earl of Wellington, Viscount Wellington of Talavera and of Wellington, Baron Douro or Wellesley)'s victories. Not far from the statue, and nearly adjoining the park, is the Wellington Museum (1952), which is housed in a structure built in 1771–78. Nearby starts a celebrated riding track, Rotten Row, which traverses the park westward.

      Hyde Park was formerly a royal hunting preserve. It was opened to the public in the early 17th century. In 1851 it was the location of the Great Exhibition, which was held in the newly constructed Crystal Palace, a massive greenhouse-style exhibition hall that incorporated many of the park's trees under its roof.

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