Saturday, October 17, 2026
10:00am–12:00pm

The Bronx Chapter of AIA has organized with The Bronx County Historical Society a walking tour of Orchard Beach, Hunter Island, and the surrounding area of The Bronx.

For AIA members, tour counts for 2 CEU credits.

The AIA walking tour will explore the promenade of Orchard Beach and discuss its architectural history, as well as situating the “Riviera of The Bronx” in its historical context—that is, the Robert Moses sponsored urban planning of the 20th century and its impact on The Bronx and New York City. The beach was borne out of the WPA and public works associated with the New Deal era of Franklin Roosevelt. The walk will also focus on the development of the Bronx Park system and the City Beautiful movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with a particular emphasis on Pelham Bay Park, at 2,772 acres, the largest park in New York City, of which Orchard Beach is a part. Pelham Bay Park was borne of a particularly propitious moment for the City Beautiful movement.

The annexation of the West Bronx to New York City (in 1874) and the East Bronx (in 1895) hastened the urban development of The Bronx as a major mixed-use business/residential urban area, a far cry from its early days as a critical agricultural supplier for New York City. Highlighted will be examples of urban planning and architectural construction that allowed for the creation of green spaces, which began early in The Bronx with the New Parks Act of 1884. As a result, the amount of total parkland in the Bronx is 4,000 acres, the most of any borough of New York City. Part of this included private sector efforts combined with the government of the State and City of New York to orchestrate the creation of Orchard Beach and Hunters Island in Pelham Bay Park in the 20th century. In addition, a system of “greenways” was laid out to connect these parks, including Pelham Parkway, which connected Pelham Bay Park to Bronx Park, so Bronx residents could get to any of the parks with ease.

The access to Orchard Beach and Hunter Island is an excellent example of the Pelham Parkway “greenway,” which includes a roadway for buses and cars, horse trails, running path, walkways, bicycle area, and various seating locations and open spaces. The tour will visit the Hunter Island Wildlife Reserve, just adjacent to Orchard Beach. The flora and fauna of the East Bronx will be discussed, as will preservation efforts to maintain the ecology of Pelham Bay Park in a heavily urbanized Bronx. The tour will proceed down the Theodore Kazimiroff Nature Trail and hiking trails and conclude at the Orchard Beach Parking lot where the tour began.

Wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather. Tour will take place rain or shine.