PARK SITES CHOSEN 127 
in the valley, along the West Branch of the Rahway river, 
make an added attraction from many viewpoints within the 
reservation. 
WEEQUAHIC, OR WAVERLY PARK. 
The first that was heard of a Weequahic Park was the 
suggestion from Commissioner Murphy, soon after the or- 
ganization of the Park Board in 1895, which was in effect 
that that was “one of the best locations for a park in the 
county.” The first commission had, as indicated in a pre- 
ceding chapter, treated the possibility of a park there, and 
without any pre-formed prejudice, with scant courtesy. If 
for no other reason, the mosquito pre-emption and unre- 
stricted occupancy of the tract was thought a sufficiently 
serious matter to negative any favorable consideration of 
locating one of the county parks there. Moreover, the un- 
certainty as to the large cost and as to the future of the 
springs that fed the lake and water supply; the direct 
proximity to Elizabeth and Union County—neither of 
which would, under a county park plan for Essex, contri- 
bute to the large cost of acquiring or expenses of maintain- 
ing a park there—were all factors in the decision that, for 
many reasons, other park sites more within the county were 
deemed preferable. That Mr. Murphy entertained a decid- 
edly different view, was apparent almost from the first meet- 
ing of the second commission. 
On July 18, 1895—only the three Newark commissioners 
present—he offered a resolution that “the landscape archi- 
tects and engineers be requested to prepare a map, indicat- 
ing their best judgment as to the lines for a park at 
Waverly.” Later, as the subject was discussed, the proposi- 
tion was not enthusiastically received. Messrs. Barrett and. 
Bogart had not thought well of the Weequahic district in 
their earlier investigations and reports as experts to the 
first commission. The situation, however, had now changed, 
there being in the board an aggressive element in favor of 
the scheme to locate a park there. With the exception of 
Commissioner Murphy’s ardent advocacy of the project 
