PARK 



PARK 



landscape of a rural park ; yet small passages of inter- 

 esting and agreeable scenery are often attainable, and 

 the obviously artificial objects which may intrude upon 

 them can often be so treated as to harmonize with the 

 effect. The scenery can seldom be quite natural in ap- 

 pearance, but it can often be very beautiful, a certain 

 elaboration, elegance and even magnificence taking the 

 place of the more quiet and restful simplicity of the large 

 park, in a way that appeals very obviously to many peo- 

 ple, and there is therefore more or less tendency to 

 develop large parks in the same direction. It is un- 

 fortunate that it should be so, for as these ends can 

 be attained almost as well upon small parks as upon 

 large, it is clearly a mistake to treat one large park in 

 this style instead of several of smaller size so distrib- 

 uted as to serve conveniently a larger population. It 

 is because more cities have small parks of this elabor- 

 ate and what might almost be called gardenesque treat- 

 ment than have large and simple rural parks, that so 

 many people have a perverted conception of what con- 

 stitutes a park. 



Morningside Park, New York (Fig. 1645), is an ex- 

 ample of a small city park upon an extremely rugged 

 and picturesque site, planned, in order to enhance this 

 quality, with an avoidance of decorative elaboration. It 

 occupies a craggy hillside strip from 200 to 500 feet wide 

 and % of a mile long, with a difference of elevation of from 

 50 to 100 feet between one side and the other, rendering 

 the land unfit for streets or buildings. From its situa- 

 tion as well as its narrow shape it is essentially unse- 

 cluded; indeed one of its most notable features is the 

 impressive and utterly unrural view which it offers 

 over the busy streets and houses of Harlem, that 

 stretch away from its base. This view and the boldness 

 of the crags is emphasized by a stone terrace along the 

 upper edge, supporting a promenade and a tree -lined 

 boundary street. Convenience of passage is met by 

 numerous broad paths, with masonry steps fitted to the 

 irregularities of the ledges. The planting among the 

 ledges was designed to be of the tangled sort such as 

 often clothes broken ledges naturally, while the more 

 level land at the base of the crags is treated by contrast 

 as a smooth lawn, with scattered trees. The natural 

 boldness of the crags is partly lost by an effort to ex- 

 tend turf over every possible area, and the shrub plant- 

 ing is possibly rather too garden-like in style to be in 

 entire accord with the situation, but in general the park 

 is treated in a manner approaching that of the large 

 parks, although without any attempt at complete rural 

 seclusion. It contains a little over thirty acres, ex- 

 clusive of the various boundary streets and prome- 

 nades. 



More commonly small parks are used for the display 

 of interesting and showy flowering shrubs and trees, 

 and make a feature of fountains, statues and other 

 sculpture more or less good. In moderation and skil- 

 fully used such objects, together with terraces and 

 other architectural work, are entirely appropriate and 

 desirable in parks of this class, and add much to the 

 effect of elegance and richness. The predominant pur- 

 pose is to please the eye, as in the large parks, but in a 

 way that has often a little of the element of spectacular 

 effect and certainly more of interest in the individual 

 objects than in the case of the quiet rural park. The 

 enjoyment is more closely related to that offered by 

 architecture and decorative design and other pleasures 

 forming a part of the daily city life. 



3. Neighborhood pleasure grounds are spaces of 

 varying size coming within the scope of the park sys- 

 tem, and including numerous aims other than the en- 

 joyment of scenery. Sometimes the leading feature is 

 a "pl a yg roun( l for athletic sports, sometimes a sort of 

 outdoor kindergarten for little children, sometimes a 

 concert grove and promenade, sometimes a menagerie, 

 sometimes a public bathing place or boating place. The 

 area is usually restricted, and, as the name indicates, the 

 object is to offer the maximum of outdoor recreation 

 for the people of a single neighborhood, when they 

 have not the time to go far afield. As children out of 

 school hours are most in need of such provision, play- 

 grounds form an important feature in many grounds 

 of this class; but in all the best examples the means 

 of meeting the various practical requirements, whether 



athletics, band concerts or what not, are so arranged as 

 to produce a pleasing effect on the eye as well. This is 

 the more difficult from the fact that these grounds get 

 very hard usage: and it is practically impossible to 

 maintain a respectable turf on the area devoted to a 

 playground. This is sometimes left in loam worn bare 

 in streaks and patches by the playing, but it is better 

 surfaced with well-compacted gravel. So far as any 

 single example can represent this class, which must 

 vary in every element with local conditions, Charles- 

 bank, in Boston, may be taken as an illustration. This 

 playground occupies a tract of about ten acres upon the 

 borders of the Charles river at a point near a district of 

 considerable congestion, and occupied by a population 

 of a poor class. A promenade was established on the 

 edge of the sea wall about two thousand feet in length, 

 and between it and the undisturbed streets a play- 

 ground was laid out, having an average width of about 

 two hundred and fifty feet. Within this long, narrow 

 belt of public ground were established two outdoor 

 gymnasia, each with a running track and a building for 

 dressing and bathing. One of these outdoor gymnasia 

 was designed for women and children and the other for 

 men and boys, and they are at the opposite extremities of 

 the playground. The tract between them was laid out 

 with walks, trees, shrubs and turf, and was intended pri- 

 marily to appeal to the aesthetic senses. The Charles- 

 bank has well proved the practicability of maintaining, 

 within the very heart of the city, a tract of ground oc- 

 cupied by greensward and trees despite the fact that it 

 is frequented by thousands of men, women and chil- 

 dren. The city of Boston provides free instruction in 

 gymnastics upon the playground, and yearly over 70,- 

 000 women and girls, and 200,000 men and boys have 

 made use of the facilities offered. The total cost of 

 this playground for land and improvements to date is 

 $382,000, and the yearly cost of maintenance is $10,000. 



4. Squares, places, gardens, and the like, usually 

 of small area, are scattered about a city at street inter- 

 sections and the like. Their principal functions are to 

 furnish agreeable sights for those passing by them or 

 through them in the course of their daily business, and 

 to provide a pleasant resting place or promenade for 

 the much smaller number who take the time to use them 

 so. On account of the almost constant passing through 

 such squares the best arrangements all provide for rea- 

 sonably direct and convenient paths along the lines 

 most used. Where this is not done many of those who 

 use the square are likely to be so irritated by the indi- 

 rectness as to miss much of the pleasure they might 

 otherwise receive. A formal plan of walks, either on 

 straight lines or curved, is generally adopted for such 

 squares, and is well suited to the conditions and to the 

 decorative treatment of the area, providing much more 

 effectively than an irregular plan for the numerous 

 statues, fountains and gay flower beds which have their 

 most appropriate location in such a place. Shade trees, 

 either as a complete grove, or in rows along the paths, 

 or grouped in some more complex plan, are almost es- 

 sential features of such squares, but where displays of 

 flowers are to be made open spaces must be left for sun- 

 light. A modification of this type of square is sometimes 

 met with where the space, instead of being used as 

 a short cut and for enjoyment from within, is designed 

 primarily to present an agreeable picture to those pass- 

 ing it upon the adjacent streets. When the area is very 

 small and the passing is almost wholly along one side, 

 and in other special cases, this treatment is most effec- 

 tive, because, where the only aim is a beautiful picto- 

 rial effect from a limited point of view, better results can 

 be obtained than when appearances must be reconciled 

 with other uses of the land. Nevertheless there are few 

 cases in which a small square will not have a greater 

 recreative value to the public if its pictorial aspect is 

 somewhat sacrificed to such uses as resting and prom- 

 enading. 



5. Parkways and boulevards as parts of a park 

 system serve usually as pleasant means of access to 

 parks from other parts of the city, or from one park 

 to another, and also as agreeable promenades in them- 

 selves. Commercial traffic is usually excluded from 

 them. Boulevards are arranged formally, usually upon 

 straight lines, with rows of shade trees and parallel 



