Created for Norm’s Thursday Doors, July 14, 2016.
Rainey Memorial Gates (F on the map) are located at the north side of the New York Zoological Park in The Bronx, New York, New York. The bronze gates were built in 1934 in the Art Deco style and designed by noted sculptor Paul Manship (1885–1966), who started work on them in 1926. It is a memorial to the big game hunter Paul James Rainey (1877–1923). The gates feature 22 stylized animals and plant life including the a seated lion. Low bronze screens flank the gate and connect it to the granite gatekeeper’s lodges. The gates are topped by 26 ton slabs of granite. It is a New York City designated landmark and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The Bronx Zoo is one of the most famous zoos in the world. In 1898, the City of New York allotted 250 acres of Bronx Park to the New York Zoological Society to build a park aimed at preserving native animals and promoting zoology. The Bronx Zoo opened in 1899 and remains one of the largest wildlife conservation parks in the United States, housing 4,000 animals representing more than 650 species.
The area from the Rainey Gate entrance on Fordham Road (landmarked in 1967) to the far end of Astor Court at Zoo Center was landmarked in 2000. The buildings in Astor Court were designed by the firm of Heins & Lafarge, who also designed the original plans for the cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights and many of the subway station details on the IRT line. Another landmarked feature, the Rockefeller Fountain, was built by Italian sculptor Biagio Catella in 1872, donated to the Zoological Society by William Rockefeller in 1903, and moved to its present spot in. Another historic landmark is a souvenir from the Ice Age known as the Rocking Stone overlooking the Buffalo Range. The stone is a rough cube of pinkish granite, resting on a granite slab base; even though it is roughly seven feet high and 30 tons, it is balanced perfectly and cannot be moved. The zoo promotes the wildlife conservation by WCS.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronx_Zoo and https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/zoos/bronx-zoo
Sherry Felix - port4u 
I was raised in the Bronx and the Bronx Zoo has many beautiful details and history.
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Thanks for your comment. The Zoo is full of lovely old buildings.
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Yes, I actually miss visiting the Zoo. It’s like a different world once you pass the gates.
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Wow!! These are truly impressive gates! If I ever make it back to New York someday, the Bronx Zoo will definitely be on my list of places to visit.
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They are not easy to find.
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Funny – they are so beautiful, you would think they would want to showcase them.
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Transportation patterns changed and now that street is not used to enter the zoo.
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ahhh – good to know.
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More beauty- they look like entrances to stories!
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They do. Like Narnia. 🙂
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love!
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Very beautiful gates. I love the green patina. Have a great day!
Marianne
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Me too. Thanks.
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I haven’t been to the Bronx Zoo since my daughter’s 8th grade field trip 🙂 Thanks for the memory jog!
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There are things there for big people too.
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That is a gorgeous gate, beautifully captured. I particularly like the last one.
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Thanks Otto.
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Very ornate! 🙂
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Beautiful gates. I used gates for my post this week, too, so I was delighted to see yours.
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Thanks. Love your wrought iron gates.
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Thanks, Sherry.
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Nice memory trip for me. I used to live near the Bronx Zoo as a kid. My friends and I used to go in there all the time.
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Nice. My grandparents lived on Fordham hill road.
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I’ve been there and looking at these pics I can’t believe I wasn’t paying attention enough to notice these, because they’re gorgeous!
Excellent choice this week Sherry.
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Thanks so much Norm. That gate isn’t commonly uesd.
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I’ll echo what you said. During my childhood I visited the Bronx Zoo several times but don’t remember ever seeing these gates.
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The reason I saw these gates is because I had to walk from the Botanical Garden RR stop to this entrance on Fordham Road “F”. At this entrance there is no public parking, only entry on foot. The NY Botanical Garden is closed Mondays (which I did not know) so the Zoo was plan B. http://bronxzoo.com/map
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Thanks. The cars are inside.
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Excellent shots and an impressive door. I guess the cars in image 1 are parking outside the zoo. The door is “opening” to the outside then. That is interesting.
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Beautiful *!*
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Thanks
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