Tuxedo Park: Lives, Legacies, Legends

From a few great and grand families living in a beautifully crafted, magical, small community came so much of America's history. Those families and their children and grand children and great grand children have moved on and out to further influence the value and fabric of American life.It was an honor to read such a thoroughly researched history which added so much to the origins of fact and relationships, architecture and life style, and how a few families grew within the unique American developement of values and work.A truly important and beautifully crafted work.George Mason

Tuxedo: Who's Who and BeyondEver wondered who lived in Tuxedo's historical houses, and who were the workers who built them? What were the scandals? Where were the intrigues? Who were the heroes? Did their deeds have any significance that transcends time? Tuxedo Park: Lives, Legacies, Legends tells the colorful stories of the individuals and families who created our community between 1885 and 1940s. From Gilded-Age names like Lorillard, Astor, and Morgan to the skillful immigrant craftsmen who forged the historic buildings, the author weaves their personal stories in a narrative thread that also tethers them to the history of the Lower Hudson Valley. The early Tuxedo residents bestowed legacies beyond the period houses they left behind. Women's rights in America were first asserted here by pioneers such as Cora Urquhart, Maude Lorillard, and Eloise Breese; proper manners were encoded by Emily Post, and the look of a century defined by Dorothy Draper. It was a local man (the son of an undertaker) who founded Orange & Rockland Utilities, and another who funded Thomas Edison's inventions and rescued The New York Times Company from business ruin. While scores of Tuxedo residents made fortunes on Wall Street, infamy is reserved for one of them, Charles Mitchell (nicknamed Sunshine Charley), who was actually blamed for the 1929 stock market crash. It was Tuxedo philanthropists who built institutions of lasting influence both locally and nationally, among them: George F. Baker High School, Tuxedo Park Fire Department, Tuxedo Park Library, Harvard Business School, the artist colony Yaddo, The Juilliard School, Baker's Field at Columbia University, and Dartmouth Library. These fascinating stories - and more - are a must read for those interested in our community and the people who created it.