Burnet Park is the largest park in
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
, USA, covering an area of . It is located on the west end of the city, in the
Far Westside in a neighborhood called
Tipperary Hill
Tipperary Hill, sometimes known as Tipp Hill, is a district in the city of Syracuse, New York. It is largely settled by immigrants from Ireland, especially from County Tipperary. It makes up half of Syracuse's Far Westside neighborhood. Histo ...
.
History
Burnet Park is located on the
Far Westside in
Tipperary Hill
Tipperary Hill, sometimes known as Tipp Hill, is a district in the city of Syracuse, New York. It is largely settled by immigrants from Ireland, especially from County Tipperary. It makes up half of Syracuse's Far Westside neighborhood. Histo ...
and is bounded by Coleridge Avenue on the north, South Avery Avenue on the west, South Wilbur Avenue on the east and Grand Avenue on the south.
Geddes annexation
When the
village of Geddes joined the city in 1886, Major John P. Burnet, who owned a large farm on
Tipperary Hill
Tipperary Hill, sometimes known as Tipp Hill, is a district in the city of Syracuse, New York. It is largely settled by immigrants from Ireland, especially from County Tipperary. It makes up half of Syracuse's Far Westside neighborhood. Histo ...
, donated a hill top plot to
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
now known as Burnet Park for use as a city park.
The property was donated with the condition that the city spend $6,000 to build roads and plant trees.
A year later, Burnet was satisfied with the city's efforts, and thus, in 1887, gave the city an additional plot of land, known as the ''Oak Grove'', which is still full of oak trees, on the corner of South Avery Avenue and Whittier Avenue.
Burnet Park extension
In 1890, Burnet subdivided the remainder of his farm south of the park into residential lots and called the development the ''Burnet Park Extension''. The plans for the "extension" were drawn up by native Syracusian architect Charles Colson, who also designed Syracuse's new City Hall which opened in 1892. The extensions' streets reportedly were named by a state worker from Binghamton.The subdivision offered 100 lots and advertised the close proximity of Burnet Park as one of the main amenities. It was advertised by ''Burnet & Westcott'', of 10 Snow Building in
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
as "the most beautiful building lots for residences in the city of
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
."
Park facilities
The park affords residents from the local area the ability to participate in many activities. The facilities at the park include: three
softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
fields, a
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
court, an outdoor
racquetball
Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...
court, two
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
courts, a 50 m swimming pool, a nine-hole par-three
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
course, and the
Rosamond Gifford Zoo
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park is an AZA (Association of Zoos & Aquariums) zoo in Syracuse, New York. It is owned and operated by Onondaga County Parks with support from the Friends of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. The zoo is home to mo ...
. Most of the park is free to the public, excepting the golf course and zoo.
Golf course
The ''Burnet Park golf course'' is one of the oldest in the country, having been constructed in 1901.
The golf course is located at the corner of Avery and Coleridge Avenues.
It is located at the city's highest point of elevation.
The first hole features the country's only “shamrock” shaped bunker. The course has undergone several changes since it opened over 100 years ago. The latest upgrade occurred in 1988 when a complete renovation took place.
Burnet zoo
The ''
Rosamond Gifford Zoo
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park is an AZA (Association of Zoos & Aquariums) zoo in Syracuse, New York. It is owned and operated by Onondaga County Parks with support from the Friends of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. The zoo is home to mo ...
'' is a
zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological g ...
in
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
located in ''Burnet Park''. During the early years, the zoo was owned and operated by
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
, however, it is now owned and operated by
Onondaga County Parks Onondaga may refer to:
Native American/First Nations
* Onondaga people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois League
* Onondaga (village), Onondaga settlement and traditional Iroquois capita ...
.
The zoo is home to nearly 1,000
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
s on . Some of the more popular animals include
Asian elephant
The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus ''Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the no ...
s,
Humboldt penguin
The Humboldt penguin (''Spheniscus humboldti'') is a medium-sized penguin. It resides in South America, its range mainly contains most of coastal Peru. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Magellanic penguin and the Galápagos peng ...
s,
Amur tiger
The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies ''Panthera tigris tigris'' native to the Russian Far East, Northeast China and possibly North Korea. It once ranged throughout the Korean Peninsula, but currently inhabit ...
s and
African lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...
s. The zoo also houses a
conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...
, education center, Jungle Cafe and gift shop.
George Washington Memorial forest
In July 1935, the local newspaper reported that the ''George Washington Memorial Forest'', which comprised several thousand evergreens along the southern border of ''Burnet Park'' at Grand Avenue, would afford nursery stock for park use over the years as the growth was thinned. At that time, the trees were between one and two feet in height.
It was estimated that it would take 30 or 40 years (1965–1975) before the saplings formed a wooded area. The trees were donated to the city by
New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
through the ''Experimental Station'' of the ''College of Agriculture''.
By the mid-1960s, the forest had grown, as estimated, to a ''full stand''.
The forest is located south of the golf course on the southern border of the park on Grand Avenue.
Summer sports
The park is filled with activity no matter the season. In the summer months there are activities such as softball games, golf and swimming. Local residents use the park for bicycling, jogging and walking. On windy days, a good place to fly a kite is the local ''Lover's Lane'' on the western edge of the park, atop a hill next to South Avery Avenue.
The handball courts were built in the early 1970s and have been a popular activity for many years. The picnic grounds located in ''Oak Grove'' on the northwest corner of the park were a good place for family get-together's.
Winter sports
''Buffalo Hill'' has always been a favorite spot for winter sports enthusiasts to use their
sleds
A sled, skid, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with either a smooth underside or a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners s ...
and
toboggans
A toboggan is a simple sled traditionally used by children. It is also a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada.
In modern times, it is used on snow to carry one or more people (often children) down a hill o ...
. By January 1917,
sled
A sled, skid, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with either a smooth underside or a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners ...
ding and
ski
A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...
ing were favorite pastimes and the hill was called ''The Little Alps''.
''
Ice-skating
Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be perfo ...
'' was also a popular choice of activity throughout the years. The
ice-skating rink
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...
was constructed in January each year. A small snowplow would form a circle with tall snowbanks around the edge and park staff would use a fire hose to fill the pad with several inches of water. The process would take 24 hours until the ice finally froze. During the mid-1960s, the city built a plumbed outdoor
ice-skating rink
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...
next to the clubhouse facility. The rink is now defunct and was closed in 2003 due to the opening of a new
ice-skating rink
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...
in the downtown area.
The old rink at ''Burnet Park'' is still used for
broomball
Broomball is a both a recreational and organized competitive winter team sport played on ice or snow and is played either indoors or outdoors, depending on climate and location. It is a ball sport and is most popularly played in Canada and the ...
and
roller hockey in the summer months, but is closed to the general public.
References
External links
Official Syracuse City Site on Burnet Park
{{Syracuse, New York
Parks in Syracuse, New York
Golf in Syracuse, New York
Sports venues in Syracuse, New York
Golf clubs and courses in New York (state)
1886 establishments in New York (state)