Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Park (originally named League Island Park) is a park area in South Philadelphia, PA, comprised of some convert|348|acre|km2 which includes a convert|146|acre|km2|sing=on golf course, about convert|125|acre|km2 of buildings and managed landscapes, and about 77 acres of natural lands including ponds and lagoons. Bordered by the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, I-95 and Pattison Avenue, the park is best known as a place to park for Philadelphia Eagles games.

The park was built to the design of Olmsted Brothers, the firm of Frederick Law Olmsted and John Charles Olmsted in the early 1900s. The use of the park for the Sesquicentennial Exposition in 1926 and subsequent improvements have changed the character of park east of Broad Street; nevertheless, the plan of the Olmstead Brothers remains highly visible and significant west of Broad Street. The name was changed from League Island Park to Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in the late 1940s. [ [http://sprucehill.uchs.net/otherdist.htm Philadelphia's Other Historic Districts] ]

FDR Park is located on the Atlantic Coastal Plain, a hydrographic province which includes extreme southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. The Coastal Plain supports different plants and animals than the adjacent Piedmont of Pennsylvania. Because of the extreme development of the Coastal Plain in Pennsylvania, many of these distinctive plants and animals are rare in the state.

The ponds and lagoons are remnants of the tidal marsh and channel system which originally occupied the area between the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers. Diking, draining and filling of these marshes probably started with the first settlement of the area by the Swedes in the early 17th century, culminating in the installation of a tide gate designed to permit drainage from the park while minimizing inflow from the Delaware River. [ [http://www.ansp.org/research/pcer/projects/fairmont/pdf/Volume_II_Chapter_3_FDR.pdf Fairmount Park System Natural Lands Restoration Master Plan (FDR Park)] ]

External links

* [http://philadelphia.about.com/od/livinginpanj/ss/fdr_park.htm A Walking Tour of FDR Park]
* [http://www.phillyhistory.org/blog/archive/2007/11/19/the-olmsted-brothers-league-island-park.aspx The Olmsted Brothers' League Island Park]

References