Garfield Park

Garfield Park may refer to:

Garfield Park (Chicago)

Garfield Park is a 184-acre (0.74 km²) urban park located in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on Chicago's West Side. It was designed as a pleasure ground by William LeBaron Jenney and is the oldest of the three great original Chicago West Side parks (Humboldt Park, Garfield, and Douglas Park). It is home to the Garfield Park Conservatory, one of the largest and most impressive conservatories in the United States.

Park history

The first 40 acres (160,000 m²) segment of Garfield Park was formally opened to the public in August 1874. Originally known as Central Park, it was conceived as the centerpiece of the West Park System.

Jenney, now best known as the father of skyscrapers, was influenced by the French parks and boulevards he had seen and studied while living in Paris. That influence is reflected in his design of these Westside parks and the connecting boulevards. The park was renamed in 1881 in honor of slain President James A. Garfield.

In 1905, Jens Jensen, now known as the Dean of Prairie-style landscape architecture, was appointed as the superintendent of the West Park System where he experimented with design ideas and improvements to the deteriorated and unfinished sections of Garfield Park. Some of the most notable areas are the existing lawns which became the setting for development of the Prairie style of landscape architecture. His most notable work in Garfield Park can be seen in the formal flower garden south of Madison Street where he combined Prairie style elements with traditional formal elements and in the Conservatory.

Garfield Park (Indianapolis)

Garfield Park is a 128-acre (52 ha) regional city park in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Established in the late 19th century, it is the oldest city park in Indianapolis and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The park is located at the confluence of Pleasant Run and Bean Creeks on the near Southside of Indianapolis. The 10,000-square-foot (930 m²) Conservatory and Sunken Gardens are located in the eastern portion of the park. The noted landscape architect George Edward Kessler designed the Sunken Gardens along with many of the other features of the park as part of his Park and Boulevard Plan for the city.

Geography

Garfield Park is bounded by Raymond Street on the north; South Garfield Drive, East Garfield Drive, and Shelby Street on the east; Southern Avenue on the south; and the Louisville and Indiana Railroad tracks on the west. Emmerich Manual High School lies directly to the west on the other side of the railroad track embankment.

Much of the park is rolling fields, due at least in part to its location at the confluence of Pleasant Run and Bean Creeks. Pleasant Run enters the park from the north and flows southwest before exiting on the west. Bean Creek enters from the south near Shelby Street and flows northwest until joining Pleasant Run. Seven bridges span the streams within the park; three of them are for pedestrians only. The oldest of these bridges are constructed of limestone.