Thornden Park is a park in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

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, which is the second largest in the city after Burnet Park. It was purchased by the city in 1921 and has become a favorite wedding location in the Syracuse park system. It is located in Westcott, and borders the

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and University Hill neighborhoods. The park 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 1994 as part of the Historic Designated Landscapes of Syracuse, New York. This document uses the 2000 version of the PDF format (1.4) that is incompatible with some web browsers.

History

Thornden Park began as a farm owned by Zebulon Ostrom, who sold it to a wealthy salt miner James P. Haskins around 1850. In 1921 the city purchased the land as part of the nationwide

City Beautiful movement The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...

and added recreational features such as the ballfields and swimming pool. During the 1960s, budget cuts threatened the cleanliness of the park; these were countered by neighborhood initiatives. The 1970s brought

Dutch elm disease Dutch elm disease (DED) is caused by a member of the sac fungi (Ascomycota) affecting elm trees, and is spread by elm bark beetles. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease was accidentally introduced into Americas, America ...

, which killed approximately 600

elm trees Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

in the park.

Maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

trees were planted as replacements. The Thornden Park Association was founded in 1983 to advocate for, restore and revitalize the park.

Mills Rose Garden

One of the more popular attractions in the park is the E. M. Mills Memorial Rose Garden, dedicated in 1924 on at the southwest entrance to the park, across Ostrom Avenue from Syracuse University. Since 1970, the Syracuse Rose Society has maintained the garden in cooperation with the City of Syracuse Department of Parks, Recreation & Youth Programs."Thornden Park,"
City of Syracuse website. Accessed: 2 July 2018. Currently, the garden hosts 368 different varieties of roses (3850 plants in all) that surround a central gazebo. Thornden-Park-ampitheater-2016-07

Amphitheater

Originally named Sylvn Theatre, Thornden Park's amphitheater was built in 1933. The opening day ceremony was rained out but the subsequent opening was attended by 10,000 people. It is built to seat 6,000 people in its concentric rings and open lawn in the middle of the amphitheater. The Syracuse Opera puts on a free show the first Sunday in August each year. Since 2003, the Syracuse Shakespeare Festival has presented its free, Shakespeare-in-the-Park program, currently the first two weekends of June.

Features

* Public swimming pool (50 m) * One multi-purpose sports field * Five tennis courts * Three basketball courts * Playground * Fitness trail * E.M. Mills Memorial Rose Garden * Outdoor amphitheater * Lily pond

Murals

Image:Thornden-Park-mural01-2018.jpg, Carriage House Image:Thornden-Park-mural02-2018.jpg, Trout Pond Image:Thornden-Park-mural03-2018.jpg, Mills Rose Garden Image:Thornden-Park-mural04-2018.jpg, Stewart Stand Pipe Image:Thornden-Park-mural06-2018.jpg, Amphitheater Image:Thornden-Park-mural07-2018.jpg, Davis Mansion Image:Thornden-Park-mural08-2018.jpg, Ice Skating Image:Thornden-Park-mural09-2018.jpg, Main Entrance (Depictions of the history and selected features of Thornden Park, on the exterior of the pool building.)

References

External links

City of Syracuse Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Youth Programs
Thornden Park Association

Syracuse Rose Society

Syracuse Then and Now (n.d.) {{Syracuse, New York Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Parks in Syracuse, New York National Register of Historic Places in Syracuse, New York