Rockland County Courthouse and Dutch Gardens is a historic county courthouse

Courthouse

A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...

, public garden

Garden

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...

, and national historic district

Historic district (United States)

In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...

 located at New City

New City, New York

New City is a hamlet , in the Town of Clarkstown Rockland County, New York, United States, part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The hamlet is a suburb of New York City, located 18 miles north of the city at the closest point, Riverdale, The Bronx...

 in Rockland County, New York

Rockland County, New York

Rockland County is a suburban county 15 miles to the northwest of Manhattan and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the southernmost county in New York west of the Hudson River, and the smallest county in New York outside of New York City. The...

. The district has two contributing buildings, one contributing site, five contributing structures, and two contributing objects.

The courthouse building was built in 1928 and is a three story, symmetrical building built of Indiana limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 in a transitional Beaux-Arts / Art Deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 style. The interior features a large three story lobby that extends across the front of the building to the two flanking pavilions. On the front facade is the county World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 Memorial.

The Dutch Garden was designed by Mary Mowbray Clarke (1874–1963), a West Nyack

West Nyack, New York

West Nyack is a hamlet in the Town of Clarkstown Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Central Nyack; east of Nanuet; south of Valley Cottage and west of Upper Nyack. It is approximately 18 miles north of New York City...

 native, in 1933-34 and constructed between 1934 and 1938 as a Works Progress Administration

Works Progress Administration

The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...

 project. It was built as a memorial to the county's early settlers and was designed in the formal 17th century Dutch tradition. The Dutch Garden won "Garden of the Year" from Better Home and Gardens

Better Homes and Gardens (magazine)

Better Homes and Gardens is the fourth best selling magazine in the United States. The editor in Chief is Gayle Butler. Better Homes and Gardens focuses on interests regarding homes, cooking, gardening, crafts, healthy living, decorating, and entertaining. The magazine is published 12 times per...

magazine in 1935. Master craftsman Biaglo Gugliuzzo of Garnerville

Garnerville, New York

Garnerville is a hamlet in the Town of Haverstraw Rockland County, New York, United States located north of New City; east ofMount Ivy; south of Stony Point and west of West Haverstraw...

 created walks and latticed walls of Haverstraw

Haverstraw (village), New York

Haverstraw is a village in the town of Haverstraw in Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Congers; southeast of West Haverstraw; east of Garnerville, New York; northeast of New City and west of the Hudson River at its widest point...

 brick.

It was the only W.P.A. landscape architecture project designed and supervised by a woman. The garden features a one story tea house

Tea house

A tea house or tearoom is a venue centered on drinking tea. Its function varies widely depending on the culture, and some cultures have a variety of distinct tea-centered houses or parlors that all qualify under the English language term "tea house" or "tea room."-Asia:In Central Asia this term...

 whose interior features a brick fireplace with carvings of mountains, windmills and other serene symbols representing aspects of Dutch-American history, others of motifs popular in 1930s

1930s

File:1930s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson show the effects of the Great Depression; Due to the economic collapse, the farms become dry and the Dust Bowl spreads through America; The Battle of Wuhan during the Second Sino-Japanese...

: Popeye

Popeye

Popeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...

, the Baker Cocoa and Old Dutch Cleanser maids. Also in the garden is a bandstand

Bandstand

A bandstand is a circular or semicircular structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts...

, a serpentine brick wall, and a small round brick table. It has been said that folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 singer Burl Ives

Burl Ives

Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....

 once performed there and that Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...

 visited the garden. Markers on site. Now a county park with beautiful display of flowering bulbs in spring. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1991.