Recreation Park is a public,

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 ...

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

. Located in Binghamton's West Side, Recreation Park is bordered by Schubert Street to the North, and Laurel Avenue to the East, Seminary Avenue to the South, and Beethoven Street to the West. Shoe manufacturer

George F. Johnson George Francis Johnson (1857–1948) was an American businessman. Biography Early life George Francis Johnson was born in Milford, Massachusetts, on October 14, 1857, to Francis A. Johnson and Sarah Jane (Aldrich) Johnson. His siblings wer ...

donated it to Binghamton, and it is home to one of

Allan Herschell The Allan Herschell Company specialized in the creation of amusement rides, particularly carousels and roller coasters. The company manufactured portable machines that could be used by traveling carnival operators. It was started in 1915 in th ...

's six famous carousels. The park also contains a bandstand, statues and monuments, numerous athletic fields and courts, swimming facilities, a playground, and walking paths in a grove of mature oak trees.

History

The area where the park now stands was originally farmland owned by Abel Bennett, the former first mayor of Binghamton.

, the founder of Endicott-Johnson Shoe Corp., purchased this land, along with three smaller parcels of land owned by other landowners. In October 1921 he donated all of it to the City of Binghamton on condition "that it shall remain forever a public park, and that it shall be properly improved and maintained by the city as such. If at any time this property shall be used for any other purpose, it shall revert to the giver, his heirs or assigns." The George F. Johnson Recreation Park Carousel, which was manufactured by the Allan Herschell Company, was added in 1925, with a

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

#146-B

Band Organ A fairground organ (french: limonaire) is a French pneumatic musical organ covering the wind and percussive sections of an orchestra. Originated in Paris, France, it was designed for use in commercial fairground settings to provide loud musi ...

providing the carousel's music. The carousel was listed on 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 ...

in 1992. ''See also:'' The bathhouse, whose roof once comprised red tiles, continues to serve patrons. The bandstand hosts concerts in the summertime. A giant wooden toboggan slide was situated at the Laurel Avenue side of the park in its early days but it was lost in a fire. The park had fallen into serious disrepair by the 1980s. In response, a task force set about examining the park and its amenities and making recommendations regarding repairs and restoration, which were published in the 1986 Heritage Committee Special Report. In the report the members noted that the park "has primarily changed only in the form of falling into such a state of disrepair that renovation is no longer cost efficient." As a result, the park underwent restoration, including restoration of the bandstand. In 2004 the

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...

art department, utilizing a grant from the Rose-Ross University and Community Projects Fund, restored the reflecting pool and its sculpture ''Boy with Fish'', which was created by artist

Charles Keck Charles Keck (September 9, 1875 – April 23, 1951) was an American sculptor from New York City, New York. Early life and education Keck studied at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League of New York with Philip Martiny, ...

in 1922. There is a

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ' ...

memorial plaque in the bandstand, which refers to the '' Twilight Zone'' episode "

Walking Distance "Walking Distance" is episode five of the American television series ''The Twilight Zone''. It originally aired on October 30, 1959. The episode was listed as the ninth best episode in the history of ''The Twilight Zone'' by ''Time'' magazine. ...

": Serling grew up in Binghamton and the carousel featured in the episode is said to have been inspired by the one in Recreation Park. The plaque and episode are also referenced heavily in the 2015 film ''

The Rewrite ''The Rewrite'' is a 2014 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Marc Lawrence. It stars Hugh Grant as a washed-up screenwriter who begins teaching at Binghamton University, and Marisa Tomei as a single mother with whom the screenw ...

'', which is mostly set in Binghamton. In September 2021 Freshcoat607 was contacted by the city of Binghamton for light restoration. Over 3 days they used approximately 15 Gallons of paint to make the Bandstand shine brightly once again.

References

External links

City of Binghamton carousels
{{Coord, 42, 06, 0, N, 75, 56, 0, W, display=title Binghamton, New York Urban public parks Parks in Broome County, New York Tourist attractions in Binghamton, New York