after production stopped in the early 20th century, developers began building on houses on some of the property. col. frederic adrian delano (1863–1953), uncle of future president franklin d. roosevelt, purchased the remaining land, which included the core of the manufacturing operation, for use as a public park. originally it was to have belonged to the city of newburgh and in fact was deeded to the city, even though it was not contiguous with the city and is over a mile outside the city limits. the city of newburgh maintained the park until the mid-1970s, at which time it became cost prohibitive and it gave up ownership. eventually, orange county purchased the property and it remains a part of the orange county parks and recreation system to this day. it is adjacent to cronomer hill park, which borders it across powder mill road to the northwest. cronomer hill park is a separate orange county park.