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EspañolFAIRMOUNT PARK
'Fairmount Park' is Philadelphia's municipal park system. It consists of 63 parks, with 9,200 acres (3,723 hectares), all overseen by the Fairmount Park Commission.
| Contents |
| Fairmount Park proper |
| Growth |
| Properties |
| See also |
| External links |
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 of Lemon Hill and Sedgley; and West Park, the area now comprising the Philadelphia Zoo and the Centennial 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 the Wissahickon Creek although this is not considered Fairmount Park proper. Likewise the Schuylkill River Trail is a modern addition and was not included in 19th century acquisitions.
Growth
The park grew out of the Lemon Hill estate of Henry Pratt, whose land was originally owned by Robert Morris, signer of the Declaration of Independence. It was dedicated to the public by City Council's ordinance on September 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 first zoo in the United States, the Philadelphia Zoo, Fairmount Park was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 7 1972.
The Fairmount area is also host to the Fairmount Sports Association baseball league.
Properties
Today, the system includes the Centennial Arboretum, Philadelphia's Horticulture Center, Fairmount Water Works, Rockland, Joshua Fisher's The Cliffs (1753), William Peters'
Belmont Mansion (1745), Memorial Hall, the Belmont 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 Fairmount Park Art Association.
See also
★ Schuylkill Banks
★ Philadelphia Aquarium
External links
★ Fairmount Park Commission, City of Philadelphia
★ Philadelphia Zoo
★ Public Art in Philadelphia
★ Fairmount Park Conservancy
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