Forest Hill Park is an historic
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 ...
that was a portion of
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...
's
estate, located in
East Cleveland and
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs. The city's population was 45,312 at the 2020 census. As of the 2010 census, Cleveland Heights was ranked the 8th larges ...
. Two-thirds of the park lie in East Cleveland, and the remaining third is in Cleveland Heights. The park has six baseball diamonds (four lit), six lit tennis courts and walking trails that have retained the natural green space as intended by
John D. Rockefeller Jr.
John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller.
He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in M ...
, who deeded the park to the two cities in 1936.
Albert Davis Taylor was the park's landscape architect. It is the largest single body of green space between two large
metroparks A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government.
Definition
A regional park can be a special park distri ...
on the far east and west sides of
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
.
History
The park was bought by Rockefeller in 1873 as a summer estate, which was used by Rockefeller's family until 1915.
A fire destroyed the estate house in 1917.
In 1939 Rockefeller transferred 1/3 (one-third) of the property to
Cleveland Heights
Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs. The city's population was 45,312 at the 2020 census. As of the 2010 census, Cleveland Heights was ranked the 8th largest ...
and 2/3 (two-thirds) to
East Cleveland.
On February 27, 1998, it was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
See also
*
Forest Hill, Ohio
Forest Hill is an historic neighborhood spanning parts of Cleveland Heights and East Cleveland, Ohio, and is bordered to the north by Glynn Road, the south by Mayfield Road, by Lee Boulevard to the west and North Taylor Road to the east. Forest ...
References
External links
Community Resources, Parks & Gardens: Forest Hill Park
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
East Cleveland, Ohio
Parks in Ohio
Protected areas of Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Rockefeller family
National Register of Historic Places in Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
Works Progress Administration in Ohio
Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
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