Druid Hill Park
Encyclopedia
Druid Hill Park is a 745 acres (3 km²) urban park
Urban park
An urban park, is also known as a municipal park or a public park, public open space or municipal gardens , is a park in cities and other incorporated places to offer recreation and green space to residents of, and visitors to, the municipality...

 in northwest Baltimore, Maryland. Its boundaries are marked by Druid Park Drive (north), Swann Drive and Reisterstown Road
Maryland Route 140
Maryland Route 140 is a local long route in northern Maryland, United States.-Route description:MD 140 is known by various names depending on location; south of Reisterstown it is known as Reisterstown Road. Though Reisterstown itself is named after John Reister, the road is named after Jacob...

 (west and south), and the Jones Falls Expressway (east). Inaugurated in 1860, Druid Hill Park ranks with Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...

 (begun in 1858) in New York and Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park is the municipal park system of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It consists of 63 parks, with , all overseen by the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, successor to the Fairmount Park Commission in 2010.-Fairmount Park proper:...

 (1812) in Philadelphia as the oldest landscaped public parks in the United States.

History

The land was originally part of "Auchentorlie", the estate of George Buchanan, one of the seven commissioners responsible for the establishment of Baltimore City; Buchanan's country estate included 579 of the 745 acres (3 km²) that comprise Druid Hill Park today. Renamed "Druid Hill" by Nicholas Rogers, who married Eleanor Buchanan, it was purchased in 1860 by the city of Baltimore from Lloyd Rogers with the revenue derived from a one-cent park tax on the nickel horsecar
Horsecar
A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...

 fares. Druid Hill Park was inaugurated by Baltimore Mayor Thomas Swann
Thomas Swann
Thomas Swann was an American politician. Initially a Know-Nothing, and later a Democrat, he served as mayor of Baltimore , as the 33rd Governor of Maryland , and as U.S...

 on October 19, 1860. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

. Local residents often refer to the park as "Drudle" Park, a Baltimorese
Baltimorese
The Baltimore dialect, most popularly known as Baltimorese , is a dialect of American English in the Mid-Atlantic United States that originated among the White blue-collar residents of South and Southeast Baltimore...

 corruption of its given name.

The park was designed by Howard Daniels, Baltimore Park Commissioners' landscape designer, and John H. B. Latrobe, who designed the gateways to the park and the alterations made to the early-19th century Nicholas Rogers mansion that already stood in the site. George A. Frederick
George A. Frederick
George Aloysius Frederick was a German-American architect with a practice in Baltimore, Maryland, where his most prominent commission was the Baltimore City Hall , awarded him when he was only twenty-one....

, the 21-year-old Baltimore architect who won the commission for Baltimore City Hall
Baltimore City Hall
Baltimore City Hall is the official seat of government of the City of Baltimore. City Hall houses the offices of the mayor and those of the Baltimore City Council. The building also hosts the city comptroller, some city departments and chambers of the Baltimore City Council...

 in 1860, provided designs for architectural features in the park. Among Frederick's playful structures for Druid Hill in Moorish and Chinese styles is the Chinese Station erected in 1864 and the Moorish Station, which were stops on a narrow-gauge railroad that once wound through the park. The "Mansion House" now functions as the main administration building of The Maryland Zoo
The Maryland Zoo
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is a zoo located in Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, Maryland. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums . Home to over 2,000 animals, the zoo is generally considered to be the third oldest zoological park in the United States, having opened in 1876...

.

The park served as an attractive hill for winter sledding during the 1940s, particularly for boys attending the Talmudical Academy of Baltimore
Talmudical Academy of Baltimore
The Talmudical Academy of Baltimore ,otherwise known as T.A., is a middle-of-the-road Orthodox Jewish K-12 school founded in 1917...

.

Like Central Park, Druid Hill was at the northern edges of urban development at the time of its establishment. The northern end of the park, which contains some of the oldest forest growth in the state of Maryland, has never been landscaped, but rather left as a natural wooded habitat. Roadways through this section of the park have been closed to vehicular traffic since the late 1970s or early 1980s, but have always been open for hikers and bicyclists.

The southern end of the park was a popular destination for city dwellers for a number of decades. Druid Hill Lake, the park's most notable waterway, was constructed in 1863 and remains one of the largest earthen dammed lakes in the country. With the advent of automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

s, the park's many winding roadways became popular with car dealers who took potential buyers there to teach them to drive.

Many of the park's older fountains and man-made ponds have been drained, allowing nature to reclaim those areas. However, many of their structures remain partially or completely intact.

Racial segregation

When the park opened in 1860, recreation facilities such as pools and tennis courts were racially segregated. This practice was challenged on July 11, 1948 when 24 black tennis players, protesting the city's discriminatory policies, were arrested for playing on the park's "white-only" tennis courts. The names of the protestors are commemorated on the Baltimore Tennis Club Marker, located adjacent to the Conservatory along Druid Park Lake Drive.

Festivities

The Annual Stone Soul Picnic is held at Druid Hill Park since 1991.The event is free to the public, and consists of food, face painting, music, and cultural art. This past summer recording artists as Cali Swag District, Bobby V., Marques Houston, and Jazmine Sullivan performed. Another free event held yearly at Druid Hill Park is The Annual Caribbean Carnival Festival. The Caribbean American Carnival Association of Baltimore sponsors the event. The event lasts for three days, consists of food, Caribbean art, Soca, live reggae bands, and costumed dancers.

The Park also is the venue for the annual Charm City Cyclocross bicycle race in mid-September which is one of the major cyclocross bicycle races on the east coast of the United States.

Health

In 2007, the city of Baltimore spent 50,000 dollars on exercise equipment for the park. The park consists of three workout stations around the park reservoir. The workout machines in the park are free for the public. They are some stations with rowing machines, elliptical, and leg presses. Many of the exercise machines are manually operated. By the end of 2010, the city of Baltimore plans to build more exercise equipments for other parks in the city.

Monuments

There are many different monuments in Druid Hill Park. The Wallace Monument, for example, honors Scottish hero William Wallace. The statue, at least 40 feet tall, is the most recognizable monument in the park. The Wagner Monument stands on the lawn spreading from the Mansion house. The monument in honor of Christopher Columbus lies within a view of the main South Driveway, and looks out upon the reservoir. The statue of George Washington is placed at an intersection near the Rotunda driveway.

Housing

Druid Hill Park is not home to any private residences, according to the official neighborhood boundaries by the city government of Baltimore. However, the Mansion House, located in The Maryland Zoo
The Maryland Zoo
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is a zoo located in Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, Maryland. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums . Home to over 2,000 animals, the zoo is generally considered to be the third oldest zoological park in the United States, having opened in 1876...

, which was built in 1801, served as the estate for Colonel Nicholas Rogers and his family until it was converted into a public pavilion in 1863. The only privately owned properties that are somewhat submerged into the park are at the northeastern corner of the park. This small enclave is the Brick Hill historic district dating to 1877, made of small masonry as well as stone duplexes, where those who worked at the Meadow Mill of the Woodberry Manufacturing Company lived. However, this is considered to be a part of the Woodberry neighborhood. Many homes face the park in the neighborhoods of Hampden
Hampden
-Asia/Pacific:* Hampden, New Zealand , North Otago, New Zealand* Hampden Cup , Perth, Western Australia-Europe:* Hampden Park , Glasgow, Scotland* Hampden Park, Eastbourne , East Sussex, England...

, Liberty Square, Park Circle, Parkview Woodbrook, Reservoir Hill, and Woodberry. The Achentoroly Terrace, which faces the neighborhood in the Parkview Woodbrook neighborhood, is a historic district of nine blocks built between 1876 and the 1920s in the Victorian style.

Features

Today, the park is home to a number of attractions. These include:
  • The Maryland Zoo
    The Maryland Zoo
    The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is a zoo located in Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, Maryland. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums . Home to over 2,000 animals, the zoo is generally considered to be the third oldest zoological park in the United States, having opened in 1876...

  • The Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens of Baltimore
    Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens of Baltimore
    The Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens of Baltimore, often known as the Baltimore Conservatory, is a historic conservatory and botanical garden located in Druid Hill Park at 3100 Swann Drive, Baltimore, Maryland. The conservatory is open daily except Mondays.Designed by George A...

    , with its historic Palm House and Orchid Room, built in 1888.
  • An 18-hole disc golf
    Disc golf
    Disc golf is a disc game in which individual players throw a flying disc into a basket or at a target. According to the Professional Disc Golf Association, "The object of the game is to traverse a course from beginning to end in the fewest number of throws of the disc." Of the more than 3000...

     course
  • The Baltimore Model Safety City (where school children learn how to be safe pedestrians by walking in a miniaturized model of downtown Baltimore)
  • Jones Falls Trail, a hiking and bicycling trail, leaves the Jones Falls
    Jones Falls
    The Jones Falls is a stream in Maryland. It is impounded to create Lake Roland before running through the city of Baltimore and finally emptying into the Baltimore Inner Harbor....

     at the Woodberry Light Rail Station
    Woodberry (Baltimore Light Rail station)
    The Woodberry Light Rail Stop is one of 33 stops on the Baltimore Light Rail. The stop is located at the corner or Union and Clipper Avenues in Baltimore, near the areas of Clipper Mill and Television Hill. Also nearby are Druid Hill Park and Hampden....

     to enter the north end of Druid Hill Park. It then runs along the west side of the park, before it circles Druid Hill Lake and exits at the southeast corner, where to continues to follow the Jones Falls south.


The R&B group Dru Hill
Dru Hill
Dru Hill is an American singing group, most popular during the late 1990s, whose repertoire included R&B, soul, and gospel music. Founded in Baltimore, Maryland, and active since 1992, Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B #1 hits "In My Bed", "Never Make a Promise", ...

took its name from the park.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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