Lake Park, a mile-long park on a bluff above

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, 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 ...

covering .

Design

Lake Park was designed in the late 19th century by

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...

, who also designed

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

along with many others. Believing that access to nature had a civilizing and restorative effect on the urban public, Olmsted designed Lake Park in the Romantic tradition, with a preference for natural (over formal) landscaping, winding paths, a variety of vistas, incorporation of wildlife, and a balance between active recreation and more passive enjoyment. Milwaukee architect Alfred Clas designed the park's pavilion, dedicated in 1903, as well as the grand stairway, added in 1908, that led from the pavilion to the lakeshore promenade below.

Description

Covering on the shore of Lake Michigan, the park is part of a mostly contiguous stretch of lakefront amenities that extend north from Milwaukee's downtown, including

Bradford Beach Bradford Beach is a public beach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The beach which was constructed in the 1920s is part of Lake Park; a mile-long park on a bluff above Lake Michigan. Lake Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Ap ...

, various parks, McKinley Marina, and the

Milwaukee Art Museum The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) is an art museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its collection contains nearly 25,000 works of art. Location and Visit Located on the lakefront of Lake Michigan, the Milwaukee Art Museum is one of the largest art museu ...

. The park terrain includes both bluffs and

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.Indian mound A number of pre-Columbian cultures are collectively termed "Mound Builders". The term does not refer to a specific people or archaeological culture, but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks erected for an extended period of more than 5 ...

in the city of Milwaukee. The others were destroyed by early settlers of the city and surrounding area. It also contains

North Point Lighthouse The North Point Lighthouse Museum is a lighthouse built in 1888 in Lake Park on the East Side of Milwaukee in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States to mark the entrance to the Milwaukee River. The lighthouse was added to the National Regi ...

, which was built in 1855. A 6-hole golf course was built in 1903, expanding to 18 holes in 1930.

History

In July 2016, Lake Park became a popular location for Poké-Stops in the game ''

Pokémon Go ''Pokémon Go'' (stylized as ''Pokémon GO'') is a 2016 augmented reality (AR) mobile game, part of the ''Pokémon'' franchise, developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android ...

''. In August 2016, the Milwaukee County Parks Department asked

Niantic Niantic may refer to: * Niantic people, tribe of American Indians * Niantic, Inc., mobile app developer known for the mobile games ''Ingress'' and ''Pokémon Go'' Ships * ''Niantic'' (whaling vessel), relic of San Francisco Gold Rush *USS ''Ni ...

to remove the game stops until a permit was received, in compliance with a county ordinance.

References

{{Milwaukee Protected areas of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Urban public parks Geography of Milwaukee Tourist attractions in Milwaukee National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee Parks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Works Progress Administration in Wisconsin

Design

Description

History

See also

References