Washington Park is a park in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

, 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 ...

. Located at 1400 Williams Boulevard, the park features walking trails, a botanical garden, large duck pond, rose garden, carillon, and carillon concerts. The park was purchased for city use in 1900, and construction began in 1901. Substantial drainage and dredging were required to turn the wetland portions of the future park into ponds and grassy space. Washington Park is operated by the

Springfield Park District The Springfield Park District, established in 1900, is the public park authority serving the metropolitan area of Springfield in the U.S. state of Illinois. The Springfield park district, which is separate from the municipal government of the city ...

Components of park

Washington Park Botanical Garden

The Washington Park Botanical Garden includes a conservatory and

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

. It is open daily during the afternoons; admission is free. The garden consists of outdoor plantings, a

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

(9,000 square feet), and a conservatory. In all it contains over 1200

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, including over 150 species of tropical plants. Outdoor gardens include a

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

garden,

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

garden,

rock garden A rock garden, also known as a rockery and formerly as a rockwork, is a garden, or more often a part of a garden, with a landscaping framework of rocks, stones, and gravel, with planting appropriate to this setting. Usually these are small A ...

, and a

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

garden (5,000 plants).

Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon

The

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniou ...

, operated by the Springfield Park District, contains 67 bells built by

Petit & Fritsen Royal Bellfounders Petit & Fritsen, located in Aarle-Rixtel, the Netherlands, is a former foundry, one of the oldest family-owned businesses in the Netherlands, with the foundry dating back to 1660. Petit & Fritsen was a foundry that cast bells f ...

. Concerts are held year round every Sunday and on Wednesday evenings during summer months. Tower tours are available daily.

Velasco Tennis Center

The Velasco Tennis Center is a tennis facility located in the park. The facility contains 12 courts with six being lighted and a pro shop. It is the home venue for the

UIS Prairie Stars The UIS Prairie Stars (also Illinois–Springfield Prairie Stars and formerly Sangamon State Prairie Stars) are the athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Springfield, located in Springfield, Illinois, in intercollegiate sports ...

men's and women's tennis teams.

References

External links