Amerson River Park, also known as Amerson Water Works Park, is an

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

. The park was closed after the flood of 1994. In 2015, the park was re-opened and named Amerson River Park after renovations were made costing 5.5 million dollars.

Description

The park borders the Ocmulgee River and spans over 180 acres of land. The trail runs from east to west with different areas of the park at multiple points. The park is surrounded by forest land,

meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifici ...

, and

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

. There are 7 miles of paved walking trail. The park has 6 different areas for use. There are 3

pavilions In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

, 2 open grassy areas, 1

overlook A scenic viewpoint – also called an observation point, viewpoint, viewing point, vista point, lookout, scenic overlook,These terms are more commonly used in North America. etc. – is an elevated location where people can view scenery (often w ...

and 1 handicap accessible playground. Amerson Park is a part of the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail network, although it is not yet connected to the downtown section of trails. Amerson Park is also recognized as the beginning of the

Ocmulgee River The Ocmulgee River () is a western tributary of the Altamaha River, approximately 255 mi (410 km) long, in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the westernmost major tributary of the Altamaha.Oconee river The Oconee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map Accessed April 21, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its origin is in Hall County and it terminates where it joins ...

where it becomes the Altamaha.

History

Amerson River Park is named after Frank C. Amerson, Jr. who was a former Chairman of the Macon Water Authority in 1976. The park is one of the original places of a Macon Water Authority treatment plant. Chairman Amerson was recognized by the Water Authority and his name was chosen to be included in the park. In 2019, Amerson River Park reached th
ELGLKnope National Championship
out of 32 other parks and public spaces being recognized as the best parks in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park is a railroad park located in Scottsdale, Arizona It features a gauge railroad, a Magma Arizona Railroad locomotive, a railroad museum, three model railroad clubs and a gauge live steam railroad. History In 196 ...

defeated Amerson in the final vote.

Features

Amerson River Park has many features for use. There is a canoe launch at the northernmost end of the park. There is also a tubing float that extends for 2 miles and begins at Jay Hall Memorial Canoe Launch and ends at the Bragg Jam Canoe and Tube Takeout.

Park Areas

There are 7 major areas of Amerson River Park: the Bluff Pavilion, Overlook Pavilion, Porter Pavilion, Sheridan Overlook, Great Plain, Lawson Field, and the Atlanta Gas and Light Playground. The Atlanta Gas and Light Playground has been credited as Macon's first handicap accessible playground.

Gallery

File:Jay Hall River Access.jpg, Jay Hall River Access File:Overlook Pavilion.jpg, Overlook Pavilion File:Porter Pavilion.jpg, Porter Pavilion File:Alanta Gas Playground Macon.jpg, Atlanta Gas and Light Playground

References

{{Reflist

External links

Parks on the Trail-NewTown Macon
-Parks on the Trail
Park Map , Amerson River Park
-Park Map
Amerson River Park , Official Georgia Tourism and Travel Website , Explore Georgia.org
-Explore Georgia
Amerson River Park
-Amerson River Park Macon, Georgia Parks in Georgia (U.S. state) Landmarks in Macon, Georgia