x PREFACE 



DAVID I. KELLY, Secretary, Essex County Park Commission, Newark, N. J. 



PAUL C. LINDLEY, J. VanLindley Nursery Company, Pamone, N. C. 



OTTO T. MALLERY, Philadelphia, Pa. 



J. H. McCuRDY, M.D., Young Men's Christian Association College, Springfield, 



Mass. 



J. HORACE MCFARLAND, Mt. Pleasant Press, Harrisburg, Pa. 

 HERMAN W. MERKEL, Superintendent, Westchester County, N. Y., Park System. 

 ARTHUR RINGLAND, Executive Secretary, National Conference, Outdoor Recreation, 



Washington, D. C. 



MAJOR WILLIAM A. WELCH, Chairman, Palisade Interstate Park Commission, 



New York City. 

 THEODORE WIRTH, Former President, American Institute of Park Executives, 



Minneapolis, Minn. 



During 1925 and 1926 information was secured, through field visits and 

 correspondence, as to what more than two thousand, seven hundred munici- 

 pal corporations and over forty counties had done in planning, developing 

 and operating parks. The two volumes comprising this work are the result 

 of the study and are based upon its findings, although much material has 

 been drawn from sources other than the information compiled. Park 

 development is proceeding so rapidly that some of the facts presented will 

 not coincide with the present situation, but it is believed that the informa- 

 tion offered will present a general picture of the park situation throughout 

 the country. 



Both in the conduct of the study and in the compilation of these vol- 

 umes, much valuable assistance was rendered by many individuals and 

 organizations. The members of the National Committee on the Study of 

 Municipal and County Parks have by their individual and collective advice 

 and council been of great assistance. Special thanks are due to the members 

 of the field staff of the Park Study and to a number of the office and field 

 staff of the Playground and Recreation Association of America for their 

 efforts in securing the information. Very grateful acknowledgment is made 

 of the valuable services of all those public officials who gave of their time 

 to assist the field staff in the local studies and to those individuals who 

 answered the questionnaire sent to the smaller cities. It is impossible to 

 give individual acknowledgment and thanks to all those individuals and 

 organizations contributing text material and illustrative data used in the 

 manual, but an effort has been made to give due credit throughout the text. 



It is hoped that the information given in this manual and the inter- 

 change of experiences which it represents will be of assistance not only to 

 park superintendents and governing bodies, but to all public officials and 

 private individuals interested in promoting the widest possible use of parks 

 for the people. 



