Landscape Information
Situated on a hill roughly 600 feet east of Wappinger Creek, this five-and-a-half-acre park incorporates the immediate grounds of a homestead established in the mid-eighteenth century by Adolphus and Nicholas Brewer, purchased by Peter Mesier in 1777, and sold to the village in 1891 for public use. The park has long served as a village green, initially used for public meetings, as a voting location, and tax collection site. Bisected by an east-west-oriented service road, the parcel is framed to the north, east, and west by linear streets and to the south by curvilinear East Main Street. The park features gently sloping terrain dotted with exposed bedrock and multiple specimen trees, including maple, oak, and pine. The Mesier Homestead, a historic, wood frame house, occupies the approximate center of the property, north of the service road. While the park lacks a perimeter fence and may be accessed by pedestrians on all sides, it features a main entrance along its curved, southern perimeter. From the entrance, a flight of steps, framed by stone retaining walls embellished with plantings of perennials and shrubs, lead visitors to a linear, gently inclined path, which bisects the park’s southern half into two sloped lawns. The eastern lawn includes benches, a flagpole and a gazebo, which was installed in 1968 and hosts concerts and events. The walk terminates at the service road, opposite the south façade of the homestead. The northern section of the park is traversed by curvilinear, crushed stone paths that frame lawns interspersed with benches and specimen trees. The park is a contributing feature of the Wappingers Falls Historic District, which was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
