Eden 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 ...

located in the Walnut Hills neighborhood of

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

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

Ohio River valley The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illinoi ...

History

Eden park reservoir, Cincinnati, O, by Union View Co

The park's acreage was purchased by the city in 1869 from

Joseph Longworth Joseph Longworth (2 October 1813 – 29 December 1883) was an American lawyer, real-estate magnate, art collector, and philanthropist. A member of the wealthy Longworth family, he helped shape cultural life in Cincinnati for a generation. Long ...

(1813–1883), son of

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

, 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 ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...

, 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 manageme ...

Adolph Strauch Adolph Strauch (b. August 30, 1822 – 1883) was a renowned landscape architect born in Silesia, Prussia, known particularly for his layout designs of cemeteries like Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio, Forest Lawn in Buffalo, NY and O ...

, 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. It is the third largest cemetery in the United States, after the Calverton National Cemetery and Abraham L ...

. The city constructed a , 96 million gallon reservoir between 1866 and 1878. The

Eden Park Station No. 7 The Eden Park Station No. 7 is a historic structure located in Eden Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Constructed in the late nineteenth century as a significant part of the city water supply system, it was used for its original purpose fo ...

pumped water from the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

into the reservoir and then into the

Eden Park Stand Pipe Eden Park Standpipe is an ornate historic standpipe standing on the high ground of Eden Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. The standpipe is a form of water tower common in the late 19th century. It was listed in the National Register on March 3, 1980. T ...

. 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, undisturbed by fountain jets, for a reflective surface. Design Reflecting pools are ...

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 use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

and landscape features. The

Elsinore Arch Elsinore Arch (also known as Elsinore Tower) is a registered historic structure in Cincinnati, Ohio, listed in the National Register on March 3, 1980. The building, at Gilbert Avenue and Elsinore Place, was constructed in 1883 for the Cincinnati W ...

, built in 1883, serves as a natural entrance to the park. The 1904

Spring House Gazebo The Spring House Gazebo is a historic gazebo of Eden Park within Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States. Designed by architect Cornelius M. Foster and completed in , it is the oldest enduring park structure in the Cincinnati municipal park system ...

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 ov ...

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, accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. It was founded as the McMicken School of Design in 1869, and was a department of the U ...

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

Over-the-Rhine Over-the-Rhine (often abbreviated as OTR) is a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Historically, Over-the-Rhine has been a working-class neighborhood. It is among the largest, most intact urban historic districts in the United State ...

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 that pr ...

and the Seasongood Pavilion, a natural amphitheater built in 1959 and named for Cincinnati mayor

Murray Seasongood Murray Seasongood (October 27, 1878 – February 21, 1983) was an American lawyer and politician. He led a government reform movement in Cincinnati, founding the Charter Party and served as the Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio from 1926 to 1930. He was t ...

. The

Krohn Conservatory The Irwin M. Krohn Conservatory is a conservatory located in Eden Park within Cincinnati, Ohio in the United States. History The conservatory was completed in 1933, replacing smaller greenhouses that had stood in Eden Park since 1894. Originall ...

is a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

and

Art Deco Style Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

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 (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

. 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 This is a list of U.S. state, federal district, and territory trees, including official trees of the following of the states, of the federal district, and of the territories. Table See also * List of U.S. state, district, and territorial insign ...

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 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. During the Sengoku ...

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 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 a major part of ...

(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 an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

in 1929 to commemorate canalization of the river for year-round water transport. President-obama cincinnati eden-park 09-17-2012

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 carries p ...

glow events in the country.

In popular culture

In the 1960 film ''

The Apartment ''The Apartment'' is a 1960 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and produced by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond. It stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David ...

'', C.C. Baxter (

Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...

) tells the story about how he once tried to commit suicide by shooting himself at Eden Park. A police officer approaches him while he is sitting in his illegally parked car. Baxter accidentally shoots himself in the kneecap while trying to hide the gun.

Gallery

References

{{Coord, 39, 7, 0, N, 84, 29, 30, W, display=title Parks in Cincinnati Protected areas established in 1869 1869 establishments in Ohio Mount Adams, Cincinnati Walnut Hills, Cincinnati Former reservoirs