Fairmount Park

Fairmount Park
Along the banks of the Schuylkill River
from South Street in south Philadelphia
to City Avenue and along the banks of
Wissahickon Creek from the southeastern
corner of Manayunk to the northwestern corner of the city.
215-683-0200
http://www.fairmountpark.org

By some measures it is the largest municipal public park in the world at over 9,100 acres including all parkland within the city limits. All 62 city parks are considered part of Fairmount Park and overseen by the Fairmount Park Commission. Fairmount Park proper occupies nearly half that area at over 4,100 acres. On the south end, the park connects with the Schuylkill Banks and on the north end, Valley Forge National Historical Park. The park grew out of the Lemon Hill estate of Henry Pratt and was dedicated to the public on September 15, 1855. The park was the site of the Centennial Exposition of 1876 and the location of the first zoo in the U.S., the Philadelphia Zoo (1874). The park today includes the Centennial Arboretum, Philadelphia's Horticulture Center, Fairmount Water Works, William Peters' Belmont Mansion (1745), 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.

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