Friends of Druid Hill Park

Today Friends of Druid Hill Park sponsored an historic walking tour of this fine urban green space which features a conservatory, reservoir, zoo, acres of open space for picnicking, walking, running, or cycling, a disc golf course, statues, a city farms garden and great views of the city around it.

For $10 the three tour guides covered much of the story from 1860 until today, which began when a private estate was purchased and a streetcar tax was established to cover park expenses. The rail companies competed for access routes to get city dwellers to the park in an age when folks walked where they were going. 

The park had a lake on which park goers could ice skate in the winter and boat in the summer and a bandshell for outdoor live concerts. Tennis courts and swimming pools came later and while the park was open to all, there were battles fought to integrate separate and not so equal facilities.

The conservatory is one of the places I love to visit seasonally; like the rest of the park, it is lucky to survive given the city's many budget cuts. If it were not for volunteers, it is doubtful Druid Hill Park could be the active vibrant beautiful place it is. Check out the Friends website which is full of things planned for folks to get out and enjoy the space: http://druidhillpark.org

Some things I learned today:

Native Americans met there from around the region in a spot called Council Grove; to get to the bandshell one took a "Yellow Brick Road"; there were ponds named after the Bronte sisters where seals would play; animals from the MD Zoo travel to Manhattan to appear on the Martha Stewart Show, the now closed Reptile House was built as the pump house for an old reservoir there, there's a World War I Oak Grove of Rememberence and you can find information on the Friends webpage about the DPW Reservoir Plan to enclose the city water there as required now by Homeland Security to protect against terrorists attacks.