Lincoln 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 ...

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Hudson County Park System, it opened in 1905 and was originally known as West Side Park. The park was designed by Daniel W. Langton and Charles N. Lowrie, both founding members of the American Society of Landscape Architects. The park consists of two distinct sections: Lincoln Park East, , and Lincoln Park West, . The sections are named for their positions relative to U.S. Route 1/9 Truck, which passes between them, and are connected by foot and vehicular bridges over the highway. The Lincoln Park Nature Walk is part of

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free ( anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

restoration project adjacent to the

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the subur ...

. The Hackensack RiverWalk is a partially completed greenway along the banks of the river running the length of the

Hudson County Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in t ...

shoreline. The

East Coast Greenway The East Coast Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle route between Maine and Florida along the East Coast of the United States. In 2020, the Greenway received over 50 million visits. The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance was created in 1991. ...

also traverses the park.

History

Lincoln Park was the first park in the

parks system. The Hudson County Parks Commission was created in 1903, and began work on the park in 1904. The park was built primarily on undeveloped swamp and the privately owned Glendale Woods. By 1925, of land had been reclaimed from the Hackensack River in the western portion of the park. The park was expanded again in 1938 with the acquisition of additional properties along the

. The Lincoln Park Nature Walk is part of

restoration project on a former landfill site adjacent to the

unveiled in July 2011. It is hoped that the nearly $10.6 million development will enhance bird and fish populations. A section of the

crosses through the park, which is site of one of five kiosks in the state for the project The park was the home of the

Jersey City Skeeters The Jersey City Skeeters were a minor league baseball team which operated in Jersey City, New Jersey. The club started in the 1860s and by 1870 joined the National Association of Base Ball Players. By 1885, Jersey City had joined the Eastern Le ...

of the

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

and

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...

s from 1904 until 1934, when the team relocated to

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, Yonkers, and Rochester. At the 2020 census, the city's ...

Facilities

Athletics and recreation

Lincoln Park East contains many sports fields and recreational facilities. There are 21 outdoor

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be u ...

s, seven baseball fields, a cricket pitch, three children's playgrounds, the Charlie Mays running track, five basketball courts, two football fields, two soccer fields, and four handball/paddleball courts. This section of the park also contains a lake available for fishing. The lake has also been used for model yacht racing. In 2009, a suspected virus resulted in a large number of carp dying in the lake. Lincoln Park West consists primarily of

as well as Joseph J. Jaroschak Field, the facility for the baseball, softball, and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

teams of

Saint Peter's University Saint Peter's University is a private Jesuit university in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded as Saint Peter's College in 1872 by the Society of Jesus. The university offers over 60 undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 2,600 ...

. This section formerly had batting cages and a

driving range A driving range is a facility or area where golfers can practice their golf swing. It can also be a recreational activity itself for amateur golfers or when enough time for a full game is not available. Many golf courses have a driving range att ...

. In 2011, these were demolished and construction was begun on a nine-hole public golf course, the first public course in Hudson County. which opened in May 2015 after environmental restoration, grading, and landscaping.

Structures and buildings

Lincoln Park East has four

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. Etymology The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries is "Mid 18th cent ...

s, several maintenance buildings, and the Park Administration Building. The Administration Building houses offices as well as the Hank Gallo Community Room.

Casino in the Park

Just south of the Lincoln Park Lake is Casino in the Park, a catering facility owned by the county and leased to a private operator. The original structure was built as a clubhouse for the tennis courts, but was underutilized due to the distance between them. It was used as a summer museum by the Jersey City Public Library before being leased to Ray Dillman, manager of the

El Morocco El Morocco (sometimes nicknamed Elmo or Elmer) was a 20th-century Manhattan nightclub frequented by the rich and famous from the 1930s until the decline of café society in the late 1950s. It was famous for its blue zebra-stripe motif (designe ...

nightclub in New York City, as a restaurant. The restaurant is regularly used for meetings and events. Many well known people have attended private and public events at the venue. In 1963,

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

attended his parents' 50th wedding anniversary celebration at Casino in the Park alongside his daughter and Rat Pack "Clan". In 1991, the Hudson County Democratic Organization was addressed by then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. It was also the location of weekly meetings of the

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

of Jersey City. The city leases the building to a private enterprise. The original building was demolished in April 2020 and a replacement called "The View at Lincoln Park" is set to be completed in September 2022.

Former facilities

Skeeters Park was a baseball field with bleachers and a grandstand with a seating capacity of 8,500 people, built in 1902. It was home to the

, a minor league baseball team. A nine-hole golf course was built on of the western portion of the park in 1925. The park also had a concrete swimming pool near the athletic fields.

Art

The primary piece of

public art Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically acces ...

in the park is '' Lincoln the Mystic'', a statue by James Earle Fraser commissioned in 1929 by the Lincoln Association of Jersey City. The sculpture was dedicated on June 14, 1930. 4,000 people attended the unveiling and the crowd was addressed by New Jersey Governor Morgan F. Larson. The park is also home to the world's largest concrete monument, the 365-ton Lincoln Park Fountain designed by Pierre J. Cheron at the center of the park's traffic circle. The fountain is tall, and contains 27 frog-shaped spouts and 150 lights. The fountain was rededicated on June 16, 2016 after a $7.2 million restoration. The park also contains several monuments and memorials: Civil war statue LP jeh

* The Jersey City

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...

Memorial was dedicated on May 28, 1926. The bronze sculpture is tall and depicts a marching Civil War soldier dressed in a full uniform. Originally intended to be placed in Hamilton Park, the memorial was installed by the executor of the estate of Edward J. Donnelly, Sergeant, Company C,

5th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry {{Infobox military unit , unit_name= 5th New Jersey Infantry Regiment , image= , caption= , dates= July 24, 1861, to May 1865 , country= United States of America , allegiance= Union , branch= Union Army , type= Infantry , battles= Siege of Yorkto ...

. * The Farrier Memorial, a bronze statue of a firefighter atop a domed granite base of , was a bequest by Police Captain Frederick T. Farrier to honor the Volunteer Fire Department and was dedicated on November 21, 1931. * The

Great Irish Famine The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a h ...

Memorial, erected by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, is a

Celtic cross The Celtic cross is a form of Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring that emerged in Ireland, France and Great Britain in the Early Middle Ages. A type of ringed cross, it became widespread through its use in the stone high crosses er ...

of and was dedicated on May 8, 2011.

In popular culture

* In the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distr ...

of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...

crime drama ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

'', the former driving range at Lincoln Park West, near the

Pulaski Skyway The Pulaski Skyway is a four-lane bridge-causeway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, carrying an expressway designated U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1/9) for most of its length. The structure has a total length of . Its ...

, featured in a scene. Lincoln park is also featured in the HBO miniseries The Plot Against America where actor Johnathon Tuturo can be seen riding a horse by the fountain circle

References

{{Jersey City Neighborhoods Urban public parks Parks in Hudson County, New Jersey Geography of Jersey City, New Jersey Lincoln Highway Tourist attractions in Jersey City, New Jersey County parks in New Jersey