Carpenter Park is a park on the north bank of the

Sangamon River The Sangamon River is a principal tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 in central Illinois in the United Stat ...

on the far north side of the city of

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Part of the park is a dedicated

Illinois Nature Preserve The Illinois Nature Preserves Commission (INPC) is a state organization, established by the Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act, to identify, protect, steward, and defend high quality natural areas in the state of Illinois. Its mission is: to a ...

and has been designated as an ''Important Bird Area of Illinois''. The park, which is operated by the Springfield Park District, is one of the roadside attractions of old Route 66.

History

The woodland that now forms most of Carpenter Park was a wooded intrusion into the tallgrass

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

that covered most of central Illinois during early historic times. The local Indians used the Sangamon River as a transportation route for their

canoes A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

and used this woodland, with its plentiful supply of firewood, as a campground. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, many Indians fought against the frontiersmen of the

Illinois Territory The Territory of Illinois was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 1, 1809, until December 3, 1818, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Illinois. Its ca ...

, attempting to defend their way of life. While the war as a whole was a draw, the frontiersmen won control of central Illinois Territory and opened it for

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most ...

and settlement. As an attractive wooded area within the prairie, this parcel of woodland quickly found an occupant. William Carpenter acquired legal control over the land in 1838. The Carpenter family used the woodland in a manner typical of early 19th century United States frontier culture. William Carpenter established a small

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

across the Sangamon River and built a water-powered

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

on the Sangamon River. The mill sawed wood from local timber and ground corn into

cornmeal Cornmeal is a meal (coarse flour) or a cell membrane ground from dried corn. It is a common staple food, and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but not as fine as wheat flour can be.Herbst, Sharon, ''Food Lover's Companion'', ...

. The ferry was located close to where a bridge was built to enable the U.S. 66 right-of-way to cross the Sangamon River. A replacement bridge stands on a nearby location today. The Carpenter family continued to occupy the future park property until daughter Sarah Carpenter sold it to the Springfield Park District in 1922 for $87,310. The property was renamed Carpenter Park. Shortly after this accession, in 1926, U.S. Route 66 was designated to include a road, now called Peoria Road, adjacent to the park.

The park today

After being heavily used in the early 19th century, the Carpenter Park woodlands have regained sufficient quality to enable them to be listed as a State Natural Area. The woodland is mixed between wet-mesic forest in the Sangamon River floodplain, and dry-mesic upland forest atop a low

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

bluff. In the forest preserve, the dry-mesic upland forest, which makes up more than one-half of the land area of the park, is dominated by the

white oak The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera '' ...

, the state tree of Illinois, and its cousins the

black oak Black Oak may refer to: Places in the United States * Black Oak, Arkansas * Black Oak, Daviess County, Indiana * Black Oak, Lake County, Indiana, a neighborhood of Gary, Indiana * Black Oak, Missouri Other * Black Oak Arkansas Black Oak Ar ...

and

bur oak ''Quercus macrocarpa'', the bur oak or burr oak, is a species of oak tree native to eastern North America. It is in the white oak section, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'', and is also called mossycup oak, mossycup white oak, blue oak, or scrub o ...

. There are also

black walnut ''Juglans nigra'', the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to North America. It grows mostly in riparian zones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south t ...

black cherry ''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the g ...

, and

hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexi ...

trees. In areas that have not been burned over the past 100 years, pawpaw and

sassafras ''Sassafras'' is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.Wolfe, Jack A. & Wehr, Wesley C. 1987. The sassafras is an ornamental tree. "Middle Eoc ...

trees are springing up. The aging but high-quality oak-hickory forestland produces a significant quantity of mast to feed

whitetail deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

and other wildlife. A 443-year-old white oak, believed to be the oldest tree in the park, was fatally injured by a 2009 windstorm. Closer to the Sangamon River, Carpenter Park's wet-mesic forest supports old growth

sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the ancient Greek ' (''sūkomoros'') meaning "fig-mulberry". Species of trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplata ...

silver maple ''Acer saccharinum'', commonly known as silver maple, creek maple, silverleaf maple, soft maple, large maple, water maple, swamp maple, or white maple, is a species of maple native to the eastern and central United States and southeastern Canad ...

, cottonwood, and

boxelder ''Acer negundo'', the box elder, boxelder maple, Manitoba maple or ash-leaved maple, is a species of maple native to North America. It is a fast-growing, short-lived tree with opposite, compound leaves. It is sometimes considered a weedy or inv ...

trees. In the sloping ravines that transition between the two biotic zones,

red oak The genus Oak, ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many List of the largest genera of flowering plants, large genera, is Taxonomic rank#Ranks in botany, divided into subgenus, subgen ...

find a foothold. The woodland is relatively mature and diverse. 82 different species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s have been sighted. The park was listed as an Illinois Natural Area in May 1979. Old U.S. Route 66 runs alongside the park to this day, and the park maintains a

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...

ground for those following the historic road through Springfield, Illinois. In 2007, Carpenter Park was designated as an ''Important Bird Area of Illinois''.

The park tomorrow

The city of Springfield's park district adopted a management plan in 2008 that applies various natural area conservation consensus positions to the park. The plan calls for

controlled burn A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A control ...

s to enable fire-dependent trees, such as bur oaks, to reproduce themselves. The park district also hopes to construct an improved trail with a railing along the Sangamon River's sandstone bluffs, which are crumbling with

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

References

{{Reflist Parks in Illinois Springfield, Illinois Protected areas of Sangamon County, Illinois Tourist attractions in Springfield, Illinois U.S. Route 66 in Illinois Protected areas established in 1922 1922 establishments in Illinois