Formed in 1900, the Palisades Interstate Park Commission sought to preserve the heavily quarried cliffs along the Hudson River. Then New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt and New Jersey Governor Foster Vorhees appointed 10 citizens to the commission. Before the creation of the Palisades, much of the land was privately used and home to large summer estates.
Fort Lee Historic Park in New Jersey is a 33-acre park where reenactments and guided tours are performed throughout the year. In 1776, the Continental Army positioned troops within the grounds of the park because the cliffs of the Palisades gave them amazing vantage points for enemy sightings. The Kearney House, also located in New Jersey, was a homestead directly on the Hudson River that also housed a tavern and police station in 1776.
The highway linking New York and New Jersey is the Palisades Interstate Parkway. In the 1930s, the Rockefeller family donated parcels of land to construct the parkway. Today, the parkway is a scenic commuter passage that is rich in history and heritage.
