Carnwath Farms Historic Site & Park

Carnwath Farms Historic Site & Park is a 99.7 acre estate turned town park in the Town of Wappinger, Dutchess County, New York, United States. The park includes the 1850 Carnwath Manor, an 1873 carriage house, a 1927 cottage, Frances Reese Cultural Center (home of the Sports Museum of Dutchess County), Carnwath Chapel, and several hiking and walking trails.

Carnwath Manor at Carnwath Farms Historic Site & Park

Carnwath was first constructed in 1850 by architect George Post and landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing for William Henry Willis, a retired hardware merchant from New York City.[1] The estate was sold to Civil War General George Barclay in 1855 and was later inherited by his son-in-law Francis Robert Rives who made many modifications to the Carnwath Manor and also constructed the carriage house, cow barn and ice house. His son Reginald would later become Supervisor of the Town of Wappinger and own Carnwath. In 1914 he sold the property to Isaac Untermyer, famous for defending Boss Tweed. In 1925, it was sold to the Augustinian Friars and was known as the Novitiate of Our Mother of the Good Counsel. The friary constructed the Frances Reese Cultural Center in 1958, and the Carnwath Chapel in 1950.

In 1980 the property was sold to Greystone Programs, Inc. The Town of Wappinger purchased Carnwath Farms Historic Site & Park in 1999, and welcomed its first tenant in 2005, the Sports Museum of Dutchess County.[2] Carnwath Farms Historic Site & Park is located within the Wheeler Hill Historic District but is a separate historic site.