- Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park is the municipal park system of
Philadelphia ,Pennsylvania . It consists of 63 parks, with 9,200acre s (3,723hectare s), all overseen by the Fairmount Park Commission.Fairmount Park proper
The park system is named after its first park, Fairmount Park, which occupies nearly half the area of the whole system, at over 4,100 acres (17 km²). Today, the Commission divides the original park into East and West Fairmount parks. The original domain of Fairmount Park consisted of three areas: "South Park" or the South Garden immediately below the
Fairmount Water Works extending to the Callowhill Street Bridge; East or "Old Park" which encompassed the former estates ofLemon Hill and Sedgley; and West Park, the area now comprising thePhiladelphia Zoo and theCentennial Exposition grounds. The South Garden predated the establishment of the Park Commission in 1867 and Lemon Hill and Sedgley were added in 1855-56. After the Civil War, work progressed on acquiring and laying out West Park. In the 1870s, the Fairmount Park Commission acquired industrial properties along theWissahickon Creek although this is not considered Fairmount Park proper. Likewise theSchuylkill River Trail is a modern addition and was not included in 19th-century acquisitions.Growth
The park grew out of the
Lemon Hill estate ofHenry Pratt , whose land was originally owned by Robert Morris, signer of theDeclaration of Independence . It was dedicated to the public by City Council's ordinance onSeptember 15 ,1855 . A series of state and local legislative acts over the next three years increased the holdings of the city, incorporating mansions, waterworks, gardens, and even territory previously set aside for the Zoological Society of Philadelphia. In 1858, the city called for a comprehensive plan and the new Fairmount Park Commission held a design competition to determine the best way to “protect and improve the purity of the Schuylkill water supply” while also creating a naturally landscaped public park.As the site of the 1876
Centennial Exposition and the firstzoo in theUnited States , thePhiladelphia Zoo , Fairmount Park was placed on theNational Register of Historic Places onFebruary 7 1972 .Properties
Today, the system includes the
Centennial Arboretum , Philadelphia's Horticulture Center,Fairmount Water Works ,Rockland ,Joshua Fisher 'sThe Cliffs (1753), William Peters' Belmont Mansion (1745), Woodford mansion, Memorial Hall, theBelmont Plateau , Japanese house,Bartram's Garden (America’s oldest living botanical garden),Philadelphia Museum of Art ,Boathouse Row , Azalea Garden, recreation centers, reservoirs, and countless statues (as well as other pieces of art) as determined by the park.Mount Pleasant, built in what was then the countryside outside of the city by a
privateer .cite web |url= http://www.ushistory.org/districts/fairmountpark/mount.htm |title= Mount Pleasant. |format=html |work=Independence Hall Association |quote= It was built in 1761-62 by Captain John Macpherson, aprivateer who had had "an arm twice shot off" according toJohn Adams . The pirate called the house "Clunie " after the seat of his family's ancient clan inScotland . ] It is now an off-premise gallery of thePhiladelphia Museum of Art in Fairmount Park.cite web |url= http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/216-20-244-37.html |title= "Fairmount Park Houses: Mount Pleasant." |author=Philadelphia Museum of Art |format=html |quote= Scottish ship captain John Macpherson (1726–1792) and his first wife, Margaret, built their grand country estate on this site—high atop cliffs overlooking theSchuylkill River —between 1762 and 1765. They employed as their builder-architectThomas Nevell (1721–1797), an apprentice ofEdmund Woolley , the builder of Independence Hall. ]ee also
*
Schuylkill Banks
*Philadelphia Aquarium External links
* [http://www.fairmountpark.org Fairmount Park Commission, City of Philadelphia]
* [http://www.phillyzoo.org Philadelphia Zoo]
* [http://www.philart.net/tour.php?id=21 Public Art in Philadelphia]
* [http://www.fairmountparkconservancy.org Fairmount Park Conservancy]
* [http://jasgp.org/content/view/586/179/ Article: Cherry Tree Maintenance at Fairmount Park]References
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