Hyde Park: The Center of the World?
Did you know that our neighbor Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the man who came up with the idea for the United Nations? He had been bothered by his country’s failure to join the League of Nations just after WWI. So, to insure America’s place in world politics, he decided that during the Second World War, the allied powers should come together to create some sort of world collective security organization. He was so sure of its importance that at one point he even contemplated leaving the Presidency so that he could oversee the U.N. as its first Secretary General. Of course we know that would never happen, in fact he would never get the chance to see his victory in the war or the creation of the U.N. but it's interesting to wonder how he might have felt to know that his hometown was in the running to be the Capital City of the United Nations.
In November of 1945, Benson R. Frost, an attorney from Rhinebeck and FDR’s friend, was appointed to represent the Hyde Park United Nations Organization Committee. It was his job to argue on behalf of the Town of Hyde Park, that there was no better place to house such an important and international concern. The pamphlets that were produced layout all of the reasons why Hyde Park would make such a perfect location for all of the world’s nations to converge. Beginning with the fact that the Home of FDR was used as a temporary White House whenever he visited the town. That requires easy access, security, and communication abilities. Frost and his team made sure to add the fact that most of the leaders of the allied nations had already spent much time in Hyde Park when they would visit the President, so they were already familiar with its layout and commodities.
The pamphlets also included the fact that there was plenty of land for the taking, owned both privately and by the Federal Government. It made it seem as if the estates surrounding the Home of FDR could easily make for excellent headquarters for the U.N. offices (could you imagine Vanderbilt Mansion being an office building?!). Though it should be noted that not all estate owners wanted to just hand over their lands to the U.N., including Mrs. Gerald Morgan who lived at Bellefield. But she would consider negotiating with the U.N. for its sale to the organization on a “reasonable basis.” There was also talk of installing a reservoir near the “dream house” (that’s a code word for Top Cottage in Press talk) that could be fed from the Fallkill and Crum Elbow creeks.
Of course the committee could not forget to include the fact that Hyde Park is right in the middle of the lovely Hudson Valley that has easy access to all sorts of colleges, industries, hospitals and sightseeing opportunities (none of these things were actually located in Hyde Park, but not far.) For example, the two major colleges of Vassar and Bard were mentioned and the big local factories of Poughkeepsie were discussed including IBM, DeLaval Separator, and Schatz Bearings. The fact that the closest major airport was in Newburgh was not a concern, as there was talk of adding a 6,000 foot runway for planes somewhere in town and that this particular part of the Hudson River “is suitable for landing seaplanes.”
With all of these things to consider, in February of 1946, the official UNO Committee decided that Hyde Park was not suitable for building a city needed for the Capital of the World. They claimed that the town is “apt to be rather hot in summer and the area does nor lend itself very easily to the building of a city inasmuch as there is only one strip of land which lends itself to city planning.” The committee even said that “the close association of the area with President Roosevelt is greatly welcomed in certain American quarters and arouses just as strong an opposition in others.” (true, not everybody liked him.)
So, Hyde Park lost the chance to be the center of the world. Though honestly, New York City gets just as hot as we do during the summer! Though it might be for the best, could you imagine the traffic jams on Route 9??














