Fairmount Park: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 39°59′22″N 75°12′10″W / 39.98944°N 75.20278°W / 39.98944; -75.20278
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→‎Growth: FIXED TYPO
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
 
(208 intermediate revisions by 81 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{About|the municipal park system in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States}}
{{About|the municipal park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
[[File:FairmountParkLogo.png|right]]

'''Fairmount Park''' is the municipal park system of [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]. It consists of 63 parks, with {{convert|9200|acre}}, all overseen by the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, successor to the Fairmount Park Commission in 2010.

==Fairmount Park proper==
{{Infobox NRHP
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Fairmount Park
| name = Fairmount Park
| nrhp_type = hd
| nrhp_type = hd
| image = Wissahickon near Cresheim Creek.jpg
| image = Belmont Plateau.jpg
| image_size = 285px
| caption = Fairmount Park.
| location= Both banks of [[Schuylkill River]] and [[Wissahickon Creek]], from Spring Garden St. to Northwestern Ave., [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]
| caption = [[Belmont Plateau]] view toward [[Center City, Philadelphia|Center City]]
| location = Both banks of [[Schuylkill River]] and [[Wissahickon Creek]], from Spring Garden St. to Northwestern Ave. in [[Philadelphia]]<ref name=NRHP>{{cite web|url=http://focus.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/72001151 |title=National Register of Historic Places - Fairmount Park - #72001151 |date=February 7, 1972 |website=focus.nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230223434/https://focus.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/72001151 |archive-date=December 30, 2016 |url-status=live |access-date=December 30, 2016 |quote=Locations: Philadelphia; Both banks of Schuylkill River and Wissahickon Creek, from Spring Garden St. to Northwestern Ave.}}</ref>
| lat_degrees = 40
| coordinates = {{coord|39|59|22|N|75|12|10|W|display=inline,title}}
| lat_minutes = 1
| locmapin = Philadelphia#Pennsylvania#USA
| lat_seconds = 15
| area = Schuylkill River {{convert|2052|acre}},<br/>Wissahickon Creek {{convert|2042|acre}}<ref name=acres>{{cite web|url=http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_20027240.pdf |title=The City of Philadelphia, Emerald Ash Borer Management Plan |website=dcnr.state.pa.us |publisher=The City of Philadelphia |year=2012 |page=2 |quote=The City contains approximately 6,781 acres of watershed parks including East/West Fairmount Parks (2052 ac.), Wissahickon Valley Park (2042 ac.), Pennypack Creek Park (1343 ac.), Cobbs Creek Park (851 ac.), Tacony Creek Park (304 ac.), and Poquessing Creek Park (189 ac.) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219001451/http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_20027240.pdf |archive-date=December 19, 2016 |url-status=dead |access-date=December 19, 2016}}</ref> (8.26 square kilometers)
| lat_direction = N
| built = 1812
| long_degrees = 75
| architect = [[Robert Morris Copeland]]; [[Frederick Law Olmsted|Olmsted]] & [[Calvert Vaux|Vaux]] et al.
| long_minutes = 12
| architecture = Colonial Revival, Georgian, Federal
| long_seconds = 46
| added = February 7, 1972
| long_direction = W
| refnum = 72001151<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
| coord_display = inline,title
| nocat = yes
| locmapin = Pennsylvania
| built = 1812
| architect = [[Robert Morris Copeland]]; [[Frederick Law Olmsted|Olmsted]] & [[Calvert Vaux|Vaux]] et al.
| architecture = Colonial Revival, Georgian, Federal
| added = February 07, 1972
| area = {{convert|4100|acre}}
| governing_body = Local
| refnum = 72001151<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
}}
}}
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&nbsp;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 [[Sedgeley]]; 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.


'''Fairmount Park''' is the largest municipal park in [[Philadelphia]] and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city.<ref name=history>{{cite web|url=http://www.phila.gov/ParksandRecreation/history/departmenthistory/parksystemhistory/Pages/CentennialExhibition.aspx |title=Centennial Exhibition and Expansion of Fairmount Park System |website=phila.gov |publisher=The City of Philadelphia |date=n.d. |quote=Fairmount Park System...expanded from the initial parks under the management of the [[Fairmount Park Commission]] (Fairmount Park, Wissahickon Valley Park and Hunting Park), to include several large watershed parks located throughout the city. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101060731/http://www.phila.gov/ParksandRecreation/history/departmenthistory/parksystemhistory/Pages/CentennialExhibition.aspx |archive-date=November 1, 2016 |url-status=live |access-date=December 29, 2016}}</ref><ref name=philaencyclopedia>{{cite web|url=https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/fairmount-park/ |title=The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia - Fairmount Park |last=Milroy |first=Elizabeth |website=philadelphiaencyclopedia.org |publisher=Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) at Rutgers-Camden, NJ |year=2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103070858/https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/fairmount-park/ |archive-date=January 3, 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=January 3, 2017}}</ref> Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the [[Schuylkill River]], with the two sections together totalling {{convert|2052|acre}}.<ref name=acres/> Management of Fairmount Park and the entire citywide park system is overseen by [[Philadelphia Parks & Recreation]], a city department created in 2010 from the merger of the [[Fairmount Park Commission]] and the Department of Recreation.<ref name=merger>{{cite web|url=http://www.phila.gov/PARKSANDRECREATION/HISTORY/DEPARTMENTHISTORY/Pages/default.aspx |title=Department History |website=phila.gov |publisher=The City of Philadelphia |date=n.d. |quote=the Fairmount Park Commission, created in 1867, and the Philadelphia Department of Recreation, created in 1951...officially merged on July 1, 2010. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229203430/http://www.phila.gov/PARKSANDRECREATION/HISTORY/DEPARTMENTHISTORY/Pages/default.aspx |archive-date=December 29, 2016 |url-status=live |access-date=December 29, 2016}}</ref><ref name=pathport>{{Cite web|url=http://www.phila.gov/ParksandRecreation/PDF/PPRPathport.pdf |title=Pathport to Philadelphia Parks & Recreation |date=December 2014 |website=phila.gov |publisher=The City of Philadelphia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101022318/http://www.phila.gov/ParksandRecreation/PDF/PPRPathport.pdf |archive-date=January 1, 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=January 3, 2017}}</ref>
==Growth==
[[File:Cresheim Creek, Wissahickon.jpg|thumb|right|[[Cresheim Creek]] in Fairmount Park.]]
The park grew out of the [[Lemon Hill]] estate of [[Henry Pratt]], whose land was originally owned by [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]], signer of the [[Declaration of Independence]]. It was dedicated to the public by [[Philadelphia City Council|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.


Many of the city's other parks had historically also been included in the Fairmount Park system prior to 2010, including [[Wissahickon Valley Park]] in [[Northwest Philadelphia]], [[Pennypack Park]] in [[Northeast Philadelphia]], [[Cobbs Creek#Recreation|Cobbs Creek Park]] in [[West Philadelphia]], [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park]] in [[South Philadelphia]], and 58 additional parks, parkways, plazas, squares, and public golf courses spread throughout the city.<ref name=history/><ref name=parklist>{{cite web |url=http://www.fairmountpark.org/ParkList.asp |title=63 Neighborhood and Regional Parks |website=fairmountpark.org |publisher=Philadelphia Parks and Recreation |date=n.d. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126031400/http://www.fairmountpark.org/ParkList.asp |archive-date=January 26, 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=December 26, 2016 }}</ref> Since the 2010 merger, however, the term "Fairmount Park system" is no longer used by the Parks & Recreation department, and the adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park and all other park areas are considered completely separate entities.<ref name=philaencyclopedia/>
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.


==Properties==
==History==
[[File:US Grant French 2.JPG|thumb|left|[[Equestrian statue of Ulysses S. Grant]] by [[Daniel Chester French]] and [[Edward Clark Potter]]]]
Today, the system includes the [[Centennial Arboretum]], Philadelphia's [[The Horticulture Center (Philadelphia)|Horticulture Center]], [[Fairmount Water Works]], [[Memorial Hall (Philadelphia)|Memorial Hall]], home to the [[Please Touch Museum]], 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 park.
Fairmount Park, [[Philadelphia]]'s first park, occupies {{convert|2052|acre}} adjacent to the banks of the [[Schuylkill River]].<ref name=acres/> Since 2010, [[Philadelphia Parks & Recreation]] 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; Old Park, which encompassed the former estates of [[Lemon Hill]] and [[Sedgeley]]; and West Park, the area including the [[Philadelphia Zoo]], and the [[Centennial Exposition]] grounds. The South Garden predated the establishment of the Park Commission in 1867, while Lemon Hill and Sedgeley were added in 1855–56. After the [[American Civil War]], work progressed on acquiring and laying out West Park. In the 1870s, the Fairmount Park Commission expropriated properties along the [[Wissahickon Creek]] to extend Fairmount Park. The [[Schuylkill River Trail]] is a modern paved multi-use trail by Kelly Drive in the East Park.


The Belmont Plateau Cross Country Course is located in Fairmount Park.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=106151|title=Belmont Plateau 5K Cross Country Course|publisher=usatf.org|access-date=2018-09-12}}</ref> The 1923 and 1976 [[USA Cross Country Championships]] were held in the park.
===Public art===
[[File:Lion in Fairmount Park.jpg|left|thumb|upright|One of the Florentine lions.]]
{{see also| List of public art in Philadelphia}}
Fairmount Park is home to a large collection of public art, largely due to the efforts of the [[Fairmount Park Art Association]], a non-profit organization founded in 1872 to embellish Fairmount Park Art with outdoor sculpture,<ref>Richman, M: “Sculpture of a City”, page 54. Walker Publishing Co., 1974.</ref> including the ''[[Florentine Lions]]'' installed in 1887.<ref>[http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=12Y4A3522526C.129415&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!307229~!622&ri=2&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Outdoor+Sculpture+--+Pennsylvania+--+Philadelphia&index=OBJEC&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=2%22#focus si.edu]</ref> The Art Association continues to commission and care for a large number of sculptures, in coordination with the park and city. In 2007, the Art Association installed ''Iroquois'' by [[Mark di Suvero]] near the [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]] on the [[Benjamin Franklin Parkway]].<ref>Salisbury.S: “Can’t miss this art” a 17½-ton sculpture is installed on the Parkway”, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer.'' June 23, 2007.</ref>


===Houses===
===Growth===
[[File:Detroit Photographic Company (0757).jpg|thumb|right|East Fairmount Park, c. 1900]]
[[Mount Pleasant (mansion)|Mount Pleasant]], built in what was then the countryside outside of the city by a [[privateer]],<ref name="MacPherson">{{cite web |url= http://www.ushistory.org/districts/fairmountpark/mount.htm |title= Mount Pleasant. |work= [[Independence Hall Association]] |quote= It was built in 1761–62 by Captain John Macpherson, a [[privateer]] who had had "an arm twice shot off" according to [[John Adams]]. The pirate called the house "[[Clunie]]" after the seat of his family's ancient clan in [[Scotland]]. }}</ref> is now an off-premise {{Clarify|date=October 2009}} gallery of the [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]] in Fairmount Park.<ref name="Phila Museum Mount Pleasant">{{cite web |url= http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/216-20-244-37.html |title= Fairmount Park Houses: Mount Pleasant. |author= [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]] |quote= [[Scottish people|Scottish]] ship captain John Macpherson (1726–1792) and his first wife, Margaret, built their grand country estate on this site—high atop cliffs overlooking the [[Schuylkill River]]—between 1762 and 1765. They employed as their builder-architect [[Thomas Nevell]] (1721–1797), an apprentice of [[Edmund Woolley]], the builder of [[Independence Hall (United States)|Independence Hall]]. }}</ref>
The park grew out of the [[Lemon Hill]] estate of [[Henry C. Pratt (merchant)|Henry Pratt]], whose land was originally owned by [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]], signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]. Purchased by the city in 1844, the estate was dedicated to the public by [[Philadelphia City Council|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. In 1858, the city held a design competition to re-landscape Lemon Hill and Sedgeley for public use as the best way to better protect the city's water supply.<ref name="Moss 1998 9">{{Harvnb|Moss|Crane|1998|p=9}}</ref>(Ironically the land the [[Sedgeley]] mansion was built on had originally been owned by [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]] although after his bankruptcy it had been sold to a different purchaser then Henry Pratt).


The park was the site of the 1876 [[Centennial Exposition]] and the first zoo in the United States, the [[Philadelphia Zoo]], and was placed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1972. Wissahickon Valley Park, located adjacent to the park's immediate northwest, was included in the Fairmount Park NRHP registration document.<ref name=NRHP/>
Other houses in the park include [[William Peters (lawyer)|William Peters]]'s [[Belmont Mansion (Philadelphia)|Belmont Mansion]] (1745), [[Hatfield House]], [[Randolph House (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)|Randolph House]], [[Joshua Fisher]]'s [[The Cliffs]] (1753), [[Historic Strawberry Mansion]], [[The Monastery]], and the [[Woodford (mansion)|Woodford mansion]].


==In popular culture==
[[File:Phila parks.png|thumb|right|Map of Fairmount Park Commission properties.]]
The outdoor scenes of the 2000 period art-horror film ''[[A Chronicle of Corpses]]'' were shot in Carpenter's Woods in the Wissahickon Valley Park part of Fairmount Park.
{{commonscat-inline|Houses in Fairmount Park}}


==Properties==
[[File:WTP A12 Techserv 1.jpg|thumb|right|Belmont Plateau, with [[Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Center City]] in the distance]]
Park properties include the [[Centennial Arboretum]], a [[The Horticulture Center (Philadelphia)|Horticulture Center]], [[Fairmount Water Works]], [[Memorial Hall (Philadelphia)|Memorial Hall]] (home of the [[Please Touch Museum]]), [[Shofuso Japanese House and Garden]], [[Boathouse Row]], [[Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse|Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse]], recreation centers, reservoirs, statues and other pieces of art.<ref name=philaencyclopedia/><ref name=pathport/>

===Public art===
{{See also|List of public art in Philadelphia#Fairmount Park and Schuylkill River}}
[[File:Lion in Fairmount Park.jpg|thumb|left|upright|One of the [[Medici lions|Florentine Lions]]]]
Fairmount Park is home to a large collection of public art, largely attributable to efforts of the [[Association for Public Art]], known previously as the Fairmount Park Art Association, a non-profit organization founded in 1872 to embellish Fairmount Park with outdoor sculpture,<ref>{{cite book |last=Richman |first=M |title=Sculpture of a City |page=54 |publisher=Walker Publishing Co. |date=1974}}</ref> including the [[Medici lions]] known as the ''Florentine Lions'' installed in 1887.<ref>[http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=12Y4A3522526C.129415&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!307229~!622&ri=2&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Outdoor+Sculpture+--+Pennsylvania+--+Philadelphia&index=OBJEC&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=2%22#focus si.edu]</ref> The Art Association continues to commission and care for a large number of sculptures, in coordination with the park and city. In 2007, the Art Association installed ''[[Iroquois (di Suvero)|Iroquois]]'' by [[Mark di Suvero]] near the [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]] on the [[Benjamin Franklin Parkway]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Salisbury |first=S |title="Can't miss this art" a 17½-ton sculpture is installed on the Parkway |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=June 23, 2007}}</ref>

=== Historic houses===
{{See also|List of houses in Fairmount Park}}
[[File:Strawberry Mansion.JPG|thumb|Strawberry Mansion]]
[[Mount Pleasant (mansion)|Mount Pleasant]], built in 1762–65 for a [[Scottish people|Scottish]] ship captain named John Macpherson, is administered by the [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]]. The Art Museum also administers [[Cedar Grove Mansion]], a house built in 1748–50 in what later became the [[Frankford, Philadelphia|Frankford]] neighborhood of the city. Cedar Grove was relocated to the park in 1926–1928.<ref>[http://www.philamuseum.org/historichouses/ "Philadelphia Museum of Art - Visiting: Plan Your Visit: Historic Houses"]. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved October 8, 2017.</ref>

Other historic houses in the park, listed by year of construction, include [[Boelson Cottage]] (1678–84), [[The Lilacs (Philadelphia)|The Lilacs]] (c. 1711),<ref>[https://issuu.com/andropogon/docs/fairmount_book/32 "Fairmount Park Trail Master Plan"]. ''issuu.com''. Andropogon Associates, Ltd (for the Fairmount Park Commission). December 31, 2000. Retrieved November 5, 2017.</ref> [[Letitia Street House]] (c. 1713), [[Ridgeland Mansion]] (1719),<ref>[http://cancersupportphiladelphia.org/rentals/ "Ridgeland Rentals"]. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20170910153425/http://cancersupportphiladelphia.org/rentals/ archive]) ''cancersupportphiladelphia.org''. [[Cancer Support Community]] of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved November 6, 2017.</ref> [[Belmont Mansion (Philadelphia)|Belmont Mansion]] (1745), [[The Cliffs]] (1753; ruins since a fire in 1986), [[Woodford (mansion)|Woodford Mansion]] (1756), [[Hatfield House (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)|Hatfield House]] (1760), [[Randolph House (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)|Randolph House]] (c. 1767; renamed ''Laurel Hill Mansion'' in 1976),<ref>[http://laurelhillmansion.org/Pages/history.html "Laurel Hill Mansion – History Highlights"]. Women for Greater Philadelphia Inc. Retrieved October 8, 2017.</ref> [[Historic Strawberry Mansion|Strawberry Mansion]] (c. 1783–89), [[The Solitude Mansion|The Solitude]] (1784–85; located within the zoo),<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120801171051/http://www.philadelphiazoo.org/about/AboutZoo/Zoo-History/The-Solitude-House.htm "The Solitude House" (archive)]. ''philadelphiazoo.org''. [[Philadelphia Zoo]]. Retrieved November 5, 2017.</ref> [[Sweetbriar|Sweetbriar Mansion]] (1797), [[Ormiston Mansion (Philadelphia)|Ormiston Mansion]] (1798),<ref>{{HABS |survey=PA-187 |id=pa0753 |title=Ormiston House, Reservoir Drive, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA}}</ref> [[Lemon Hill|Lemon Hill Mansion]] (1800), [[Chamounix (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)|Chamounix Mansion]] (1802),<ref>[http://www.philahostel.org/ourhistory.html "A brief history of Chamounix Mansion"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009042332/http://www.philahostel.org/ourhistory.html |date=2017-10-09 }}. Hostelling International. Retrieved October 8, 2017.</ref> [[Rockland Mansion]] (c. 1810),<ref>*{{HABS |survey=PA-6055 |id=pa3012 |title=Rockland, Mount Pleasant Drive, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA}}</ref><ref>[https://pcph.memberclicks.net/rockland-mansion-and-east-fairmount-park "Rockland Mansion and Fairmount Park"]. Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. Retrieved October 8, 2017.</ref> and the [[Ohio House (Philadelphia)|Ohio House]] which was built for the [[Centennial Exposition]] of 1876.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fairmountpark.org/OhioHouse.asp |title=Ohio House |access-date=January 19, 2012 |publisher=Philadelphia Parks & Recreation: Fairmount Park |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126034423/http://www.fairmountpark.org/OhioHouse.asp |archive-date=January 26, 2012}}</ref>


[[Sedgeley|Sedgeley Mansion]] was built in 1799 on Lemon Hill, then abandoned and later demolished after being acquired through eminent domain by the city in 1857.<ref name="Moss 1998 9"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Scharf|Westcott|1884|p=1885}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Westcott|1877|pp=452–453}}</ref> The Sedgeley property also included a servant's cottage constructed of stone which still exists.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fazio|2006|p=267}}</ref> The cottage was designed by [[Benjamin Henry Latrobe]] and is presently known as the Sedgeley Porter's House.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fairmountpark.org/Sedgeley.asp |title=Sedgeley (Porter's House) |website=fairmountpark.org |publisher=Fairmount Park |access-date=January 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006093932/http://www.fairmountpark.org/Sedgeley.asp |archive-date=October 6, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Neighborhood and regional parks==
{|
The 63 neighborhood and regional parks are:
|
*[[Allens Lane]]
*[[Awbury Park]]
*[[Bartram's Garden]]
*[[Benjamin Franklin Parkway]]
*[[Bradford Park]]
*[[Burholme Park]]
*[[Carpenter's Woods]]
*[[Carroll Park]]
*[[Christ Church Park]]
*[[Clark Park]]
*[[Clifford Park]]
*[[Cloverly Park]]
*[[Cobbs Creek Golf Course]]
*[[Cobbs Creek|Cobbs Creek Park]]
*[[East Fairmount Park]]
*[[Fernhill Park]]
*[[Fisher Park]]
*[[Fluehr Park]]
*[[Fox Chase Farm]]
*[[Franklin D. Roosevelt Golf Course]]
*[[Franklin D. Roosevelt Park]]
*[[Franklin Square (Philadelphia)|Franklin Square]]
|
*[[Franklintown Park]]
*[[Germany Hill]]
*[[Glen Foerd]]
*[[Harper's Hollow Park]]
*[[Holme Crispin Park]]
*[[Hunting Park]]
*[[I-95 Park]]
*[[John Byrne Golf Course]]
*[[John F. Kennedy Plaza]]
*[[Juniata Golf Course]]
*[[Karakung Golf Course]]
*[[Kay Park (Philadelphia)|Kay Park]]
*[[Kemble Park]]
*[[La Noce Park]]
*[[Logan Circle (Philadelphia)|Logan Circle]]
*[[Loudoun Park]]
*[[Manatawna Farm]]
*[[Manayunk Canal]]
*[[Marconi Plaza, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Marconi Plaza]]
*[[McMichael Park]]
*[[Morris Park (Philadelphia)|Morris Park]]
|
*[[Palmer Park (Philadelphia)|Palmer Park]]
*[[Pastorius Park]]
*[[Penn Treaty Park]]
*[[Pennypack Park]]
*[[Poquessing Creek Park]]
*[[Rittenhouse Square]]
*[[Roosevelt Boulevard (Philadelphia)|Roosevelt Boulevard]]
*[[Schuylkill River Park]] includes the [[Schuylkill River Park Community Garden]]
*[[Somerton Woods]]
*[[Southern Boulevard (Philadelphia)|Southern Boulevard]]
*[[Stephen Girard Park]]
*[[Tacony Creek Park]]
*[[Wakefield Park (Philadelphia)|Wakefield Park]]
*[[Walnut Lane Golf Course]]
*[[Washington Square (Philadelphia)|Washington Square]]
*[[West Fairmount Park]]
*[[Wingohockon Park]]
*[[Wissahickon Valley Park]]
*[[Wister's Woods Park]]
*[[Wooden Bridge Run]]
*[[Woodward Pines]]
|}


==See also==
==See also==
[[File:Fairmount Water Works LOC 314409cu.jpg|thumb|[[Fairmount Water Works]]]]
{{Portal|Philadelphia|Pennsylvania}}
{{Portal|Philadelphia|Pennsylvania}}
*[[Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial]]
*[[Historic Strawberry Mansion]]
*[[Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club]]
*[[Schuylkill Banks]]
*[[List of parks in Philadelphia]]
*[[Philadelphia Aquarium]]
*[[Philadelphia Aquarium]]
*[[Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia]]
*[[Sedgley Woods]]
*[[Sedgley Woods]]
*[[Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia]]
*[[Sweetbriar]]
*[[Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club]]


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
*{{Citation |last=Fazio |first=Michael W. |title=The Domestic Architecture of Benjamin Henry Latrobe |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2006}}
*{{Citation |last=Moss |first=Roger W. |last2=Crane |first2=Tom |title=Historic Houses of Philadelphia |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=1998}}
*{{Citation |last=Scharf |first=John Thomas |last2=Westcott |first2=Thompson |title=History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884 |publisher=L. H. Everts |year=1884}}
*{{Citation |last=Westcott |first=Thompson |title=The Historic Mansions and Buildings of Philadelphia |publisher=Porter & Coates |year=1877}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{commons category}}
*[http://www.fairmountpark.org Fairmount Park Commission, City of Philadelphia]
*[https://www.phila.gov/departments/philadelphia-parks-recreation/ Parks and Recreation, City of Philadelphia]
*[http://philadelphia.about.com/od/maps/l/bl_fairmount_park_map.htm Map of the Fairmount Park System]
*[https://myphillypark.org Fairmount Park Conservancy]
*[https://www.philadelphiazoo.org Philadelphia Zoo]
*Works Progress Administration, [http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/WPA1938 ''Topographical map of Fairmount Park, 1938'']
*[http://www.phillyzoo.org Philadelphia Zoo]
*[https://www.pleasetouchmuseum.org Please Touch Museum in Memorial Hall]
*[http://www.pleasetouchmuseum.org Please Touch Museum, located in Memorial Hall]
*[https://www.associationforpublicart.org Association for Public Art in Philadelphia]
*[http://www.fpaa.org Fairmount Park Art Association]
*[http://www.philart.net/tour/West_Park/21.html Listing of public art in Philadelphia]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20180206025929/http://www.phila.gov/ParksandRecreation/placestogo/Pages/Sculptures.aspx#page=1 Sculptures in Philadelphia parks] ([[Internet Archive]])
*[http://www.philart.net/tour.php?id=21 Public Art in Philadelphia]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20171011023710/http://fairmountparktrust.org/about-buildings.php Historic buildings in the Philadelphia park system] (Internet Archive)
*[http://www.fairmountparkconservancy.org Fairmount Park Conservancy]
*{{HABS |survey=PA-6183 |id=pa3426 |title=Fairmount Park, Along Schuylkill River, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA |dwgs=16 |data=44}}
*[http://jasgp.org/content/view/586/179/ Article: Cherry Tree Maintenance at Fairmount Park]


{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania}}
{{Philadelphia parks}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Fairmount Park| ]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Fairmount}}
[[Category:Municipal parks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania| ]]
[[Category:Benjamin Franklin Parkway]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Municipal parks in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Georgian architecture in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Georgian architecture in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Federal architecture in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Federal architecture in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Colonial Revival architecture in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Colonial Revival architecture in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1812]]
[[Category:1812 establishments in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Parks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Cross country running courses in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Historic districts in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Parks in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Works Progress Administration in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Works Progress Administration in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:World's Fair sites]]
[[Category:World's fair sites in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Centennial Exposition]]

[[es:Parque Fairmount]]
[[fr:Fairmount Park]]
[[no:Fairmount Park]]

Latest revision as of 01:25, 19 February 2024

This article is about the municipal park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. For other uses, see Fairmount Park (disambiguation).

Fairmount Park
Belmont Plateau view toward Center City
Fairmount Park is located in Philadelphia
Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park is located in Pennsylvania
Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park is located in the United States
Fairmount Park
LocationBoth banks of Schuylkill River and Wissahickon Creek, from Spring Garden St. to Northwestern Ave. in Philadelphia[2]
Coordinates39°59′22″N 75°12′10″W / 39.98944°N 75.20278°W / 39.98944; -75.20278
AreaSchuylkill River 2,052 acres (830 ha),
Wissahickon Creek 2,042 acres (826 ha)[3] (8.26 square kilometers)
Built1812
ArchitectRobert Morris Copeland; Olmsted & Vaux et al.
Architectural styleColonial Revival, Georgian, Federal
NRHP reference No.72001151[1]
Added to NRHPFebruary 7, 1972

Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city.[4][5] Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with the two sections together totalling 2,052 acres (830 ha).[3] Management of Fairmount Park and the entire citywide park system is overseen by Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, a city department created in 2010 from the merger of the Fairmount Park Commission and the Department of Recreation.[6][7]

Many of the city's other parks had historically also been included in the Fairmount Park system prior to 2010, including Wissahickon Valley Park in Northwest Philadelphia, Pennypack Park in Northeast Philadelphia, Cobbs Creek Park in West Philadelphia, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in South Philadelphia, and 58 additional parks, parkways, plazas, squares, and public golf courses spread throughout the city.[4][8] Since the 2010 merger, however, the term "Fairmount Park system" is no longer used by the Parks & Recreation department, and the adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park and all other park areas are considered completely separate entities.[5]

History[edit]

Equestrian statue of Ulysses S. Grant by Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter

Fairmount Park, Philadelphia's first park, occupies 2,052 acres (830 ha) adjacent to the banks of the Schuylkill River.[3] Since 2010, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation 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; Old Park, which encompassed the former estates of Lemon Hill and Sedgeley; and West Park, the area including the Philadelphia Zoo, and the Centennial Exposition grounds. The South Garden predated the establishment of the Park Commission in 1867, while Lemon Hill and Sedgeley were added in 1855–56. After the American Civil War, work progressed on acquiring and laying out West Park. In the 1870s, the Fairmount Park Commission expropriated properties along the Wissahickon Creek to extend Fairmount Park. The Schuylkill River Trail is a modern paved multi-use trail by Kelly Drive in the East Park.

The Belmont Plateau Cross Country Course is located in Fairmount Park.[9] The 1923 and 1976 USA Cross Country Championships were held in the park.

Growth[edit]

East Fairmount Park, c. 1900

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. Purchased by the city in 1844, the estate 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. In 1858, the city held a design competition to re-landscape Lemon Hill and Sedgeley for public use as the best way to better protect the city's water supply.[10](Ironically the land the Sedgeley mansion was built on had originally been owned by Robert Morris although after his bankruptcy it had been sold to a different purchaser then Henry Pratt).

The park was the site of the 1876 Centennial Exposition and the first zoo in the United States, the Philadelphia Zoo, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Wissahickon Valley Park, located adjacent to the park's immediate northwest, was included in the Fairmount Park NRHP registration document.[2]

In popular culture[edit]

The outdoor scenes of the 2000 period art-horror film A Chronicle of Corpses were shot in Carpenter's Woods in the Wissahickon Valley Park part of Fairmount Park.

Properties[edit]

Park properties include the Centennial Arboretum, a Horticulture Center, Fairmount Water Works, Memorial Hall (home of the Please Touch Museum), Shofuso Japanese House and Garden, Boathouse Row, Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse, recreation centers, reservoirs, statues and other pieces of art.[5][7]

Public art[edit]

See also: List of public art in Philadelphia § Fairmount Park and Schuylkill River
One of the Florentine Lions

Fairmount Park is home to a large collection of public art, largely attributable to efforts of the Association for Public Art, known previously as the Fairmount Park Art Association, a non-profit organization founded in 1872 to embellish Fairmount Park with outdoor sculpture,[11] including the Medici lions known as the Florentine Lions installed in 1887.[12] The Art Association continues to commission and care for a large number of sculptures, in coordination with the park and city. In 2007, the Art Association installed Iroquois by Mark di Suvero near the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.[13]

Historic houses[edit]

See also: List of houses in Fairmount Park
Strawberry Mansion

Mount Pleasant, built in 1762–65 for a Scottish ship captain named John Macpherson, is administered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Art Museum also administers Cedar Grove Mansion, a house built in 1748–50 in what later became the Frankford neighborhood of the city. Cedar Grove was relocated to the park in 1926–1928.[14]

Other historic houses in the park, listed by year of construction, include Boelson Cottage (1678–84), The Lilacs (c. 1711),[15] Letitia Street House (c. 1713), Ridgeland Mansion (1719),[16] Belmont Mansion (1745), The Cliffs (1753; ruins since a fire in 1986), Woodford Mansion (1756), Hatfield House (1760), Randolph House (c. 1767; renamed Laurel Hill Mansion in 1976),[17] Strawberry Mansion (c. 1783–89), The Solitude (1784–85; located within the zoo),[18] Sweetbriar Mansion (1797), Ormiston Mansion (1798),[19] Lemon Hill Mansion (1800), Chamounix Mansion (1802),[20] Rockland Mansion (c. 1810),[21][22] and the Ohio House which was built for the Centennial Exposition of 1876.[23]

Sedgeley Mansion was built in 1799 on Lemon Hill, then abandoned and later demolished after being acquired through eminent domain by the city in 1857.[10][24][25] The Sedgeley property also included a servant's cottage constructed of stone which still exists.[26] The cottage was designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe and is presently known as the Sedgeley Porter's House.[27]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "National Register of Historic Places - Fairmount Park - #72001151". focus.nps.gov. National Park Service. February 7, 1972. Archived from the original on December 30, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2016. Locations: Philadelphia; Both banks of Schuylkill River and Wissahickon Creek, from Spring Garden St. to Northwestern Ave.
  3. ^ a b c "The City of Philadelphia, Emerald Ash Borer Management Plan" (PDF). dcnr.state.pa.us. The City of Philadelphia. 2012. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 19, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2016. The City contains approximately 6,781 acres of watershed parks including East/West Fairmount Parks (2052 ac.), Wissahickon Valley Park (2042 ac.), Pennypack Creek Park (1343 ac.), Cobbs Creek Park (851 ac.), Tacony Creek Park (304 ac.), and Poquessing Creek Park (189 ac.)
  4. ^ a b "Centennial Exhibition and Expansion of Fairmount Park System". phila.gov. The City of Philadelphia. n.d. Archived from the original on November 1, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2016. Fairmount Park System...expanded from the initial parks under the management of the Fairmount Park Commission (Fairmount Park, Wissahickon Valley Park and Hunting Park), to include several large watershed parks located throughout the city.
  5. ^ a b c Milroy, Elizabeth (2016). "The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia - Fairmount Park". philadelphiaencyclopedia.org. Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) at Rutgers-Camden, NJ. Archived from the original on January 3, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  6. ^ "Department History". phila.gov. The City of Philadelphia. n.d. Archived from the original on December 29, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2016. the Fairmount Park Commission, created in 1867, and the Philadelphia Department of Recreation, created in 1951...officially merged on July 1, 2010.
  7. ^ a b "Pathport to Philadelphia Parks & Recreation" (PDF). phila.gov. The City of Philadelphia. December 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 1, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  8. ^ "63 Neighborhood and Regional Parks". fairmountpark.org. Philadelphia Parks and Recreation. n.d. Archived from the original on January 26, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  9. ^ "Belmont Plateau 5K Cross Country Course". usatf.org. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Moss & Crane 1998, p. 9
  11. ^ Richman, M (1974). Sculpture of a City. Walker Publishing Co. p. 54.
  12. ^ si.edu
  13. ^ Salisbury, S (June 23, 2007). ""Can't miss this art" a 17½-ton sculpture is installed on the Parkway". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  14. ^ "Philadelphia Museum of Art - Visiting: Plan Your Visit: Historic Houses". Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  15. ^ "Fairmount Park Trail Master Plan". issuu.com. Andropogon Associates, Ltd (for the Fairmount Park Commission). December 31, 2000. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  16. ^ "Ridgeland Rentals". (archive) cancersupportphiladelphia.org. Cancer Support Community of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  17. ^ "Laurel Hill Mansion – History Highlights". Women for Greater Philadelphia Inc. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  18. ^ "The Solitude House" (archive). philadelphiazoo.org. Philadelphia Zoo. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  19. ^ Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-187, "Ormiston House, Reservoir Drive, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA"
  20. ^ "A brief history of Chamounix Mansion" Archived 2017-10-09 at the Wayback Machine. Hostelling International. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  21. ^ *Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-6055, "Rockland, Mount Pleasant Drive, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA"
  22. ^ "Rockland Mansion and Fairmount Park". Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  23. ^ "Ohio House". Philadelphia Parks & Recreation: Fairmount Park. Archived from the original on January 26, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
  24. ^ Scharf & Westcott 1884, p. 1885
  25. ^ Westcott 1877, pp. 452–453
  26. ^ Fazio 2006, p. 267
  27. ^ "Sedgeley (Porter's House)". fairmountpark.org. Fairmount Park. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved January 24, 2009.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Fazio, Michael W. (2006), The Domestic Architecture of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Johns Hopkins University Press
  • Moss, Roger W.; Crane, Tom (1998), Historic Houses of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press
  • Scharf, John Thomas; Westcott, Thompson (1884), History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, L. H. Everts
  • Westcott, Thompson (1877), The Historic Mansions and Buildings of Philadelphia, Porter & Coates

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fairmount Park.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fairmount_Park&oldid=1208811888"