''Utica Parks and Parkway Historic District'' is a national historic district located at Utica in

Oneida County, New York Oneida County is a county in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 232,125. The county seat is Utica. The name is in honor of the Oneida, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois League or ''Haudenos ...

. It consists of four contributing historic elements: a historic right-of-way known as the Memorial Parkway and the three large parks it connects: Roscoe Conkling Park, F.T. Proctor Park, and T.R. Proctor Park. The district includes seven contributing buildings, three contributing sites, 26 contributing structures, and five contributing objects. The park and parkway system was designed between 1908 and 1914 by the firm of Olmsted Brothers Landscape Associates, headed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. ''See also:'' The Utica Zoo is located in Roscoe Conkling Park. It 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 ...

in 2009.

History

Thomas Redfield Proctor (May 25, 1844 - July 4, 1920) was a prominent Utica businessman and philanthropist.

Thomas R. Proctor High School Thomas R. Proctor High School is the only high school in the Utica City School District in Utica, New York. The school was built in 1934 with funds from the Works Progress Administration and Thomas R. Proctor. It opened its doors on September 9, ...

is also named for him. Proctor purchased about of farmland in 1904 and contracted the Olmstead brothers to design a city parks system. Thomas R. Proctor Park and Roscoe Conkling Park opened to the public in 1909. Proctor had also gifted the smaller Watson-Williams Park to the city in 1897, and Horatio Seymour, Addison C. Miller, Truman K. Butler, and J. Thomas Spriggs Parks in 1908.Clarke, T. Wood. Utica for a Century And A Half. Utica: Earl Widtman, 1952. Print.

Frederick T. Proctor Park

Frederick T. Proctor Park is located on the corner of Rutger Street and Culver Avenue. It is considered the “Crown Jewel” of the district's parks as it is the smallest of the three, containing of land. The

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

contributed in building some of the parks' structures; these structures were not part of the original park plan, but still hold historical significance. The park includes a lily pond, a

butterfly garden Butterfly gardening is a way to create, improve, and maintain habitat for lepidopterans including butterflies, skippers, and moths. Butterflies have four distinct life stages—egg, larva, chrysalis, and adult. In order to support and sustain ...

, bathhouses and

stonework Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, m ...

. Many of the trees and flowers in the park were planted by volunteers. The Starch Factory Creek, which is known for its landscape and its woods, flows through T. R. Proctor Park and F. T. Proctor Park. The park hosts the city's

Fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

fireworks.

Thomas R. Proctor Park

Thomas R. Proctor Park is south of F. T. Proctor Park on the corner of Culver Avenue and Welshbush Road. It has of land with baseball and soccer fields, basketball courts, a playground and running trail.

Roscoe Conkling Park

Roscoe Conkling Park is located along Oneida Street and the Memorial Parkway totaling up to . This was the first park developed by the Proctor brothers in 1909. It was designed to give Utica a pastoral appearance. The park includes the Utica Zoo, Valley View Golf Course, Val Bialas Ski and Sled Chalet, Parkway Recreation Center, John Mott Tennis Courts, South Woods switchback trails and several monuments. Roscoe Conkling Park also has many memorials and statues, including the Eagle Monument. The Utica Zoo is situated on the park's grounds and features over 200 animals on forty acres of land. The Park also includes the Valley View Golf Course, which was designed by

Robert Trent Jones Robert Trent Jones Sr. (June 20, 1906 – June 14, 2000) was a British–American golf course architect who designed or re-designed more than 500 golf courses in 45 U.S. states and 35 countries. In reference to this, Jones took pride in sayi ...

. During the winter, visitors can visit the Val Bialas Ski and Sled Chalet, named for local Olympian ice skater Valentine Bialas. It offers a rope tow, chair lift, night skiing, an ice rink and chalet with a snack bar. During the winter The South Woods Switchback Trails are groomed for cross country skiing. The Parkway Recreation Center, also known as the Edward A. Hanna Recreation Center, contains two modified basketball courts, a playground, weight training station, exercise equipment, walking track, tennis courts, computer room, conference area, and the Utica Sport Hall of Fame. The Recreation Center also accommodates the Utica Boys & Girls Club and the Parkway Senior Center.

Memorial Parkway

The Memorial Parkway is a divided parkway with a wide grassy median for most of its length. East of

Mohawk Valley Community College Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) is a public community college in Oneida County, New York. It is part of the State University of New York system. MVCC was founded in 1946 as the first community college established in New York State and ...

the two sides join, and east of the Utica Armory it becomes Culver Avenue. From west to east, the monuments on the Memorial Parkway are:

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Utica, New York Historic districts in Oneida County, New York Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Oneida County, New York Statues of Christopher Columbus