Eden Park is an

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

located in the Walnut Hills neighborhood of

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. The hilltop park occupies , and offers numerous overlooks of the

Ohio River valley The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its mouth on the Mississippi River in Cairo, ...

History

The park's acreage was purchased by the city in 1869 from Joseph Longworth (1813–1883), son of

Nicholas Longworth Nicholas Longworth III (November 5, 1869 – April 9, 1931) was an American lawyer and politician who became Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. A Republican, he was elected to the Ohio Senate, where he initiated the success ...

, a prominent Cincinnati landowner and horticulturist, who had previously used it as a vineyard. Longworth called his scenic estate the "Garden of Eden," after the biblical

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden (; ; ) or Garden of God ( and ), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2–3 and Ezekiel 28 and 31.. The location of Eden is described in the Book of Ge ...

, and the name was partially retained for the park. The park area was originally designed by noted

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

Adolph Strauch, who also was responsible for

Spring Grove Cemetery Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum is a nonprofit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. At a size of 733 acres (2.97 km2), it is the third largest cemetery in the United States, after the Calverto ...

. The city constructed a , 96 million gallon reservoir between 1866 and 1878. The Eden Park Station No. 7 pumped water from the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

into the reservoir and then into the Eden Park Stand Pipe. The reservoir was removed in the early 1960s and the site redeveloped into the Mirror Lake

reflecting pool A reflecting pool, also called a reflection pool, is a water feature found in gardens, parks and memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water with a reflective surface, undisturbed by fountain jets. Design Reflecting pools are o ...

and baseball fields. The former reservoir's dam, Eden Park Station No. 7, and Eden Park Stand Pipe still stand as historical remnants.

Architecture and institutions

Eden Park holds a number of city

landmarks A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern-day use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures ...

and landscape features. The

Elsinore Arch Elsinore Arch (also known as Elsinore Tower) is a registered historic structure in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, National Register on March 3, 1980. The building, at Gilbert Avenue and Els ...

, built in 1883, serves as a natural entrance to the park. The 1904 Spring House Gazebo is the oldest enduring structure in a Cincinnati park, and as an icon of the entire park system it appears in the logo of the

Cincinnati Park Board The Cincinnati Park Board (officially the Cincinnati Board of Park Commissioners) maintains and operates all city parks in Cincinnati, Ohio. Established in 1911 with the purchase of , today the board services more than of city park space. The boar ...

. The Park Board Administration building is situated by the Gilbert Avenue entrance. The

Cincinnati Art Museum The Cincinnati Art Museum is an art museum in the Eden Park neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1881, it was the first purpose-built art museum west of the Alleghenies, and is one of the oldest in the United States. Its collection of ...

complex is located in the park. It is linked to the Elsinore Arch via a flight of wooded hillside Cincinnati steps. The

Art Academy of Cincinnati The Art Academy of Cincinnati is a private college of art and design in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded as the McMicken School of Design in 1869, and was a department of the University of Cincinnati, and later in 1887, became the Art Academy ...

was formerly adjacent to the Art Museum, until relocating to the

Over-the-Rhine Over-the-Rhine, often abbreviated as OTR, is a residential neighborhood located in the urban basin of Cincinnati, Ohio. Over-the-Rhine is among the largest, most intact urban historic districts in the United States. Originally settled by Ohi ...

neighborhood. Live entertainment venues include

Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is a regional theatre in the United States. It was founded in 1959 by college student Gerald Covell and was one of the first regional theatres in the United States. Located in Eden Park, the first play tha ...

and the Seasongood Pavilion, a natural amphitheater built in 1959 and named for Cincinnati mayor Murray Seasongood. The Krohn Conservatory is a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

and Art Deco Style public conservatory completed in 1933. A flight of Cincinnati steps lead from Krohn Conservatory to the Presidents' Grove trail through a row of trees planted in honor of U.S. presidents. The first tree, an oak planted in 1882, honors

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. The Twin Lakes area features a footbridge traversing adjoining lakes, at the site of a former quarry. Near the footbridge is a grove of buckeye trees (''Aesculus glabra''), the state tree of Ohio. Public art at the Twin Lakes includes the Capitoline Wolf Statue replica, a gift of the City of Rome, and the statue of a cormorant fisher, a gift from Cincinnati's sister city

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

in Japan. Two structures at the Twin Lakes, a concession stand and comfort station, were built by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

(CCC) in 1937. A road from the Twin Lakes leads past the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and over the historic Melan Arch Bridge to the Eden Park Overlook near the park's highest point. The Ohio River Monument stands overlooking the river valley. It was dedicated by President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

in 1929 to commemorate

canalization River engineering is a discipline of civil engineering which studies human intervention in the course, characteristics, or flow of a river with the intention of producing some defined benefit. People have intervened in the natural course and b ...

of the river for year-round water transport.

Events

Many events are held at Eden Park annually including the popular ''EdenSong Music Series'' every Friday in July at the Seasongood Pavilion. The series is sponsored by the

and the Queen City Balladeers. Each November, Eden Park also hosts "Balluminaria", one of the largest

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carri ...

glow events in the country.

References

External links

{{Cincinnati parks Protected areas established in 1869 1869 establishments in Ohio Mount Adams, Cincinnati Walnut Hills, Cincinnati Former reservoirs in the United States