Coordinates: 38°38′N 90°17′W / 38.633°N 90.283°W
| Forest Park | |
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| Type | Municipal (St. Louis Parks Department) |
| Location | St. Louis |
| Size | 1,293 acres (5.2 km²) |
| Opened | 1876 |
| Operated by | St. Louis Parks Department |
| Status | Open all year |
Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri, opened in 1876 and the former site of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904, (better known as "The World's Fair") is one of the large urban landscape parks created during the later 19th century, following the example of Central Park in New York City. At 1,293 acres (5.2 km²), Forest Park is over 50% larger than New York's Central Park (843 acres or 3.41 km²).
The next largest parks in the city of St. Louis are Tower Grove Park (289 acres) and Carondelet Park (179 acres).
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Geography
Forest Park is located along the western edge of the City of St. Louis, though it is located nearly in the center of the entire metropolitan area. It is bordered by Skinker Boulevard and Washington University in St. Louis to the west, I-64/US-40 and Oakville Avenue to the south, Kingshighway Boulevard and Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the Washington University Medical Center to the east, and Lindell Boulevard to the north.
Surrounding areas
Neighborhoods bordering Forest Park are Skinker/DeBaliviere and DeBaliviere Place to the north, Central West End and Forest Park Southeast to the east, Kings Oak, Cheltenham, Clayton/Tamm (a.k.a. Dogtown) and Hi-Pointe to the south and Wydown/Skinker to the west. Also close to Forest Park to the west are the cities of Clayton, Maplewood, Richmond Heights and University City.
Early history
Forest Park was originally miles west of St. Louis' city boundaries. The park was dedicated June 24, 1876. On a day in which the temperature reached nearly 90 degrees, an estimated 50,000 residents of a city with a population somewhat more than 300,000 attended opening ceremonies. Many came in carriages while many others rode the train from the city, on track which had opened less than a week before. A crowd gathered near the new music stand, was entertained by a variety of music and listened to speakers who praised the new park. [1]
1864 and 1870 proposals
An 1864 plan for a large park in the city had been soundly rejected by St. Louis voters. In 1870, Hiram Leffingwell had proposed a 3,000-acre "St. Louis Park" outside the city, to extend approximately three miles west of King's Highway (now Kingshighway), but there was strong opposition and the bill that would have established the park died in the the Missouri legislature.
The 1872 plan
In 1872 the legislature passed laws that didn't require voter approval and established a 1370 acre park, as well as a smaller park further north, to be financed by special taxing districts. The boundaries of the city were extended to include the taxing districts. But in April, 1873, the Missouri Supreme Court declared the Forest Park taxing district unconstitutional. Some land for the park had already been purchased and sellers were left holding worthless bonds. When the legality of extensions to city boundaries was questioned, the legislature repealed the extensions.
The Forest Park Act of 1874
In 1874 the legislature passed the Forest Park Act establishing Forest Park in St. Louis County, as well as separate laws establishing two other parks, Carondolet Park and O'Fallon Park. The parks were funded by a county-wide property tax (at the time, St. Louis County included the City of St. Louis). [2]
The largest parcels of land needed for the park belonged to Thomas S. Skinker, Isabella de Munn, Charles P. Chouteau and his sister Julia Maffitt and the estate of Robert Forsyth. Chouteau and Maffitt challenged the constitutionality of the new law while other landowners sought legal ownership of property purchased under the 1872 law, which had been ruled unconstitutional. In November, 1874, the Missouri Supreme upheld the new law and referred all questions of land ownership and value to the circuit court. [3]
The park-to-be was surrounded mostly by farmland. No roads defined its northern and southern borders. To the east and west were unpaved roads, King's Highway to the east, with a jog near the park's southeast corner, and Skinker Road to the west. The River des Peres, sometimes barely a trickle and at other times a wild stream capable of floating a stern-wheeler, meandered through the park's northern lowlands, then flowed south through the eastern part of the park. In the southwestern part of the park was forested land dubbed "the wilderness." A farm to market road, Clayton Road, ran through the southern part of the park. A railroad right-of-way cut through the northeast corner of the park.
Architects
Maximillian G. Kern designed the Park's original plan, with Prussian-born St. Louis Surveyor Julius Pitzman. Kern also designed parks at the Compton Hill and Chain of Rocks Reservoir.[4]
George Kessler, who designed many urban parks throughout Texas and the Midwest, created a new master design for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
A popular myth says that Frederick Law Olmsted designed the park, fair grounds and Washington University campus. Kessler had worked briefly for Olmsted as a Central Park gardener when he was in his 20s. Furthering this confusion is that Olmstead was involved with Forest Park (Queens) in New York. Olmsted died in 1903 - a year before the fair. Olmsted however did create the master plan in 1897 for renovations to the Missouri Botanical Garden a few miles to the southeast of the park.[5]. Those plans were only partially implemented (construction of the two ponds).
The River des Peres
At one time the River des Peres ran openly through the park but, due to sanitary concerns, a portion was put underground in a wooden box shortly before the 1904 World's Fair.[6] In the 1930s, the portion of the River des Peres that runs through Forest Park was placed entirely underground in huge concrete pipes. More recently, an artificial waterscape linking park lakes has been created.[7] The actual river remains underground in the park.
Attractions
Institutions and buildings
| Institutions and buildings | notes | location |
| The Saint Louis Zoological Park | ||
| The McDonnell Planetarium | part of the St. Louis Science Center which is located just south of the park. | |
| The Saint Louis Art Museum | ||
| The Missouri History Museum | in the Jefferson Memorial building built in 1913 and the Emerson Center, a large addition completed in 2000. | |
| The Muny | the Municipal Opera Association of St. Louis | |
| The Jewel Box | a large display greenhouse opened in 1936. | |
| The Field House and Visitor Center | ||
| Boathouse Restaurant and boat rentals | ||
| Steinberg Skating rink | ||
| The World's Fair Pavilion | ||
| The Dwight Davis Tennis Center | ||
| Norman Probstein Community Golf Course | ||
| Triple A Golf and Tennis Club |
Places for outdoor activities
| Places for outdoor activities | notes | location |
| Turtle Playground | ||
| Softball, Baseball, Soccer, Cricket and Archery Fields | ||
| Handball Courts | ||
| The Forest Park Bike Path | multi-use | |
| Walking Paths | ||
| Picnic areas |
Other attractions
- Events
- The Great Forest Park Balloon Race
- Pace Series
- Landscape features
- The Cascades - a 75 foot waterfall northwest of the Art Museum and named for the waterfalls which flowed down Art Hill during the 1904 World's Fair.
- Kennedy Forest
- Statues and monuments
Images from Forest Park
 Underlit fountain at Forest Park in Saint Louis, Missouri. |
 St. Louis Art Museum at night. |
 Fireworks at the annual Balloon Glow in Forest Park. |
 Wine Tasting event at Forest Park. |
 A footbridge in Forest Park. |
 Paddle Boats and Rowboats in Forest Park. |
 Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. |
 1904 Flight Cage (Aviary) in the St. Louis Zoo. |
 Victorian era footbridge in Forest Park. |
 The Great Forest Park Balloon Race. |
 Nathan Frank Bandstand in Pagoda Circle. |
 Government Hill and World's Fair Pavilion. |
 Round Lake. |
 Round Lake in winter. |
 Jefferson Lake and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. |
See also
References
- ^ Loughlin, Caroline and Catherine Anderson; Forest Park, page 3. The Junior League of St. Louis, 1986.
- ^ Loughlin, Caroline and Catherine Anderson; Forest Park, pages 5-10. The Junior League of St. Louis, 1986.
- ^ Loughlin, Caroline and Catherine Anderson; Forest Park, page 11, 13. The Junior League of St. Louis, 1986.
- ^ "Overview and Map of Forest Park". St. Louis Front Page. http://www.slfp.com/SLFP-FPFEmap.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Allen, Michael (Spring 2003). "The Harnessed Channel: How the River Des Peres Became a Sewer". Ecology of Absence. http://www.eco-absence.org/text/desperes.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
- ^ "Forest Park Master Plan". City of St. Louis. http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/forestpark/fpmasterplan.html. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
- "The Mississippi River in Forest Park". City of St. Louis. http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/forestpark/history/mississippi.html. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
- "National Register of Historic Places - Nomination Form - Jewel Box" (PDF). Missouri Department of Natural Resources. http://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/00000147.pdf. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Forest Park (St. Louis) |
- Forest Park - official St. Louis Parks Department website.
- St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission Fact Sheet on Forest Park
- Forest Park Forever - an organization supporting restoration of Forest Park
- Forest Park Map (pdf)
- Forest Park Photographs in the Western Historical Manuscript Collection at the University of Missouri-St. Louis
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