Theodore Wirth Park is the regional

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

managed by the

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) is an independent park district that owns, maintains, and programs activities in public parks in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It has 500 full-time and 1,300 part-time employees and an $ ...

. The park land is shared by

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

and the neighboring suburb of Golden Valley. Formally named Theodore Wirth Regional Park, it includes two

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

s (an 18-hole course and a 9-hole par 3 course), Wirth Lake, Birch Pond, cross-country ski trails, mountain biking trails, snow tubing hills, and other amenities. It forms a significant portion of the

Grand Rounds Scenic Byway The Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway is a linked series of park areas in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, that takes a roughly circular path through the city. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board developed the system over many years. ...

, linking the Chain of Lakes area with the

Victory Memorial Parkway Victory Memorial Parkway, or Victory Memorial Drive, is a section of the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway that lies between Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States and Robbinsdale, Minnesota, United States. The parkway runs along the northwestern and nort ...

History

The park that became known as Theodore Wirth Park was established in 1889 with an initial acquisition of . The park currently occupies , which is 90% of the size of

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 ...

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 ...

at . It was eventually named for

Theodore Wirth Theodore Wirth (1863–1949) was instrumental in designing the Minneapolis system of parks. Swiss-born, he was widely regarded as the dean of the local parks movement in America. The various titles he was given included administrator of p ...

, who was superintendent of Minneapolis parks for 30 years from 1906 to 1936.

Features

A geographic marker at one corner of the park grounds, at Wirth Parkway and Golden Valley Road, marks the 45 degrees latitude line, exactly halfway between the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

and the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

.The 45th Parallel, Minneapolis, Minnesota
/ref> The badly weathered plaque was refurbished around 2006.

Gallery

45thParallelMinneapolis.jpg, 45th Parallel marker TheodoreWirthParkway.jpg, A sign along the Parkway

External links

America's Byways: Theodore Wirth ParkMinneapolis Park & Recreation Board: Theodore Wirth Regional Park

References

Parks in Minneapolis Regional parks in Minnesota Protected areas of Hennepin County, Minnesota {{HennepinCountyMN-geo-stub