History
The Taconic came into being as a result due to the increasing presence of the automobile in American society and the demand for more public parks near crowded cities. Two separate agencies, the Taconic State Park Commission (TSPC) and Westchester County Parks Commission (WCPC), were its initial constructors, building different segments. In time a state authority would take over from them both, and then 18 years later itself yield up to its current administrator, the state Department of Transportation.
It would take nearly four decades to complete from the initial parkway proposal by TSPC chair Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1925 to the opening of the last segment in 1963, due in part to a lengthy hiatus resulting from World War II. Construction technology and highway design standards changed during the construction of the road, changes whose effect is still visible to drivers today. Since its completion it has been renovated, particularly in Dutchess and Westchester counties, reflecting the change in its role from park access route and scenic drive to important regional transportation artery.
Read more about this topic: Taconic State Parkway
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Only the history of free peoples is worth our attention; the history of men under a despotism is merely a collection of anecdotes.”
—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)
“When the history of this period is written, [William Jennings] Bryan will stand out as one of the most remarkable men of his generation and one of the biggest political men of our country.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)