Records of the Bayard Cutting Arboretum

William Bayard Cutting (1850-1912) was trained as a lawyer at Columbia College but soon left the profession to assist his grandfather, Robert Bayard in the management of his railroad company. In later years, he also managed of a variety of companies including banks, trusts, and insurance companies. He was also involved with land development, most notably, improvements rendered to the South Brooklyn and Red Hook waterfront. In addition to land development, Mr. Cutting was one of the founders of the City and Suburban Homes Company, a successor to the Improved Dwellings Association for which he was president from 1879-1895.

Cutting purchased the Long Island, New York property in 1884. It became the family estate, Westbrook previously belonging to the estate of George Lorillard. In time, Cutting began creating the arboretum. A considerable conifer collection was created of fir, spruce, pine, cypress, hemlock, yew and other lesser known conifers. Most of this original collection, established in the late 1890s and created with he assistance of Charles Sprague Sergeant, was badly damaged from a hurricane in 1985, although many plantings made after 1940 are still present.

The Bayard Cutting Arboretum was donated to the Long Island State Park Region by Mrs. William (Olivia Murray) Bayard Cutting and her daughter, Mrs. Olivia Bayard James. It was founded as a family-trust endowed memorial to William Bayard Cutting in 1936 and donated to the state and people of New York.

In November 1949, Mrs. Olivia Murray Cutting passed away and her daughter, Olivia Bayard James, continued running the estate until 1952 when the arboretum management was fully transferred to the Long Island State Park and Recreation Commission, which at the time was headed by Robert Moses.