Shortly before his death, community leader and benefactor Stephen Rowe Bradley, Sr. expressed his intent to donate 212 acres of his land to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. His heirs carried out his wishes and said the land was to be deeded as a natural park for the benefit and enjoyment of the public at large. That land became Blauvelt State Park. About ninety years later, his granddaughter Mary Bradley Blake made 40 additional acres available for open space acquisition in keeping with her spirit of generosity and preservation. That acreage became Stephen Rowe Bradley, Sr. Park, a name Mary Bradley Blake chose in memory of and gratitude to her grandfather.