George Walbridge Perkins, Sr. (January 31, 1862–June 18, 1920), born in Chicago, Illinois, was vice-president of New York Life Insurance Company, and at the same time a partner in the House of Morgan. He served as president of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission from its creation in 1900 until his death in 1920. January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... June 18 is the 169th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (170th in leap years), with 196 days remaining. ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Jump to: navigation, search Chicago, colloquially known as the Second City and the Windy City, is the third-largest city in population in the United States and the largest inland city in the country. ... The New York Life Insurance Company was founded in 1841 as the Nautilus Insurance Company in New York City, with assets of just $17,000. ... Jump to: navigation, search John Pierpont Morgan John Pierpont Morgan (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913), American financier and banker, and was really retarded, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, a son of Junius Spencer Morgan (1813–1890), who was a partner of George Peabody and the founder of the house... The Palisades Interstate Park Commission was formed in 1900 by governors Theodore Roosevelt of New York and Foster Voorhees of New Jersey in response to the destruction of the Palisades by quarry operators in the late 19th century. ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ...

With only a high-school education, he began work as an office boy in the Chicago office of the New York Life Insurance Company. By 1898 he had risen to the position of vice president. In 1900, then New York governor Theodore Roosevelt appointed him president of the newly formed Palisades Interstate Park Commission. 1898 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: The Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York City Governor George Pataki (R) Senators Charles Schumer (D) Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) Official languages None (English is de facto) Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18... Jump to: navigation, search Theodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919) was the 26th (1901–09) President of the United States of America. ...

The Commission had been formed with the aim of stopping the destruction of the Palisades, a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in northeast New Jersey and southern New York. Although the Palisades and the Hudson Highlands were admired for their beauty and were featured in paintings of the Hudson River School, they were also viewed as a rich source of traprock (basalt) by quarrymen seeking to provide building material for the growth of nearby Manhattan Island. By the early 1900s development along the lower Hudson River had begun to destroy much of the area's natural beauty. The Commission was authorized to acquire land between Fort Lee and Piermont, New York; its jurisdiction was extended to Stony Point in 1906. Palisades is also a general term for steep cliffs next to a river. ... Jump to: navigation, search View of the Hudson in the 1880s showing Jersey City The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk in Mahican, is a river running mainly through New York State but partly forming the boundary between the states of New York and New Jersey. ... Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: The Garden State Other U.S. States Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Governor Richard Codey (D) Acting Senators Jon Corzine (D) Frank Lautenberg (D) Official languages None defined Area 22,608 km² (47th)  - Land 19,231 km²  - Water 3,378 km² (14. ... Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: The Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York City Governor George Pataki (R) Senators Charles Schumer (D) Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) Official languages None (English is de facto) Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18... The Hudson River school was a 19th century American group of landscape painters whose approach was related to romanticism. ... Basalt Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock, sometimes porphyritic, and is often both fine-grained and dense. ... For other uses, see Manhattan (disambiguation). ... Fort Lee is the name of two places in the United States of America: Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee, Virginia This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Piermont is a village located in Rockland County, New York, United States. ... Stony Point may refer to: Stony Point railway line, Melbourne The Battle of Stony Point Stony Point, Michigan Stony Point railway station, Melbourne Stony Point (town), New York Stony Point, Oklahoma Stony Point, North Carolina Stony Point (CDP), New York There are also: The Stoney Point people, a First Nation... Jump to: navigation, search 1906 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

The Commission was expected to raise the funds needed for the acquisition of land from private sources. Needing at least $125,000, Perkins turned first to J. P. Morgan. Morgan offered to put up the entire sum on the condition that Perkins would become a Morgan partner. Perkins agreed, with the immediate result that quarrying along the Palisades was stopped on December 24, 1900. Jump to: navigation, search John Pierpont Morgan John Pierpont Morgan (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913), American financier and banker, and was really retarded, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, a son of Junius Spencer Morgan (1813–1890), who was a partner of George Peabody and the founder of the house... Jump to: navigation, search December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ...

Then, in 1908 the State of New York announced plans to relocate Sing Sing Prison to Bear Mountain. Work was begun and in January 1909, the state purchased the 740-acre Bear Mountain tract. Conservationists, inspired by the earlier work of the Park Commission lobbied successfully for the creation of the Highlands of the Hudson Forest Preserve. However, the prison project was continued. 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki Official languages None Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ... Alternative meaning: Sing Sing (band) Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a prison in Ossining, New York. ...

Perkins, working with Union Pacific Railroad president E. H. Harriman, and, after his death, with his widow, Mary Averell Harriman, arranged a gift to the state of ten thousand acres and one million dollars from the Harrimans toward the creation of a state park and another $1.5 million from a dozen wealthy contributors including John D. Rockefeller and Morgan. New York state appropriated a matching $2.5 million. Bear Mountain-Harriman State Park became a reality in 1910 when the prison was demolished. Perkins hired Major William A. Welch as Chief Engineer, whose work for the park would achieve national influence as state and national park systems grew. The Perkins Memorial Tower at Bear Mountain State Park commemorates his work for the park; the view from the tower takes in four states and the Hudson River valley, including New York City. The Union Pacific Railroad NYSE: UNP is the largest railroad in the United States. ... Edward Henry Harriman (February 20, 1848 – September 9, 1909), better known as E. H. Harriman, was a wealthy railroad executive. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1917 painting by John Singer Sargent. ... Bear Mountain State Park is located on the west side of the Hudson River in Rockland County, New York. ... There is also a Harriman State Park in Idaho. ... Major Williams Addams Welch (August 20, 1868 – May 4, 1941) was an American engineer and environmentalist who would have a major impact on the state and national park systems of the United States. ...

Perkins played an important role in the development of New York Life. He was an articulate exponent of the evils of competition and the advantages of cooperation in business— he believed in the Good Trust. His biographer, John A. Garraty summarizes Perkins' business philosophy as follows:

The fundamental principle of life is co-operation rather than competition... Competition is cruel, wasteful, destructive, outmoded; co-operation, inherent in any theory of a well-ordered Universe, is humane, efficient, inevitable and modern.

In 1903, George W. Perkins purchased Wave Hill House on the East side of the Hudson. He had been accumulating properties since 1895 to create a great estate along the river including Oliver Harriman's adjacent villa on the site of what is now Glyndor House. Perkins planned the grounds to enhance the property's beautiful river views and added greenhouses, a swimming pool, terraces and the recreational facility; rare trees and shrubs were planted on the lawns, and gardens were created to blend with the natural beauty of the Hudson highlands. The property is now a public botanical garden. 1903 has the latest occurring solstices and equinoxes for 400 years, because the Gregorian calendar hasnt had a leap year for seven years or a century leap year since 1600. ... Jump to: navigation, search Wave Hill is a 28 acre (113,000 m²) botanical garden in New York Citys Riverdale neighborhood, situated in the Bronx. ... 1895 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Sources

• John A. Garraty, Right Hand Man: The Life of George W. Perkins, New York: Harper & Row.
• Myles, William J., Harriman Trails, A Guide and History, The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, New York, N.Y., 1999.