The History of South Park

The History of South Park. . , In the early 1890's Quincy saw a need for a park on the South side. This property was then owned by Judge B.F. Berrian jointly with his brothers. On April 16, 1895 at a meeting of the City Council park committee a recommendation was made and unanimously approved to buy 52 acres for $19,500. After the land was secured the property was surveyed and laid out for park purposes. , Quincy leaders had the foresight to hire Mr. O.C. Simonds, of Chicago, as landscape architect for the park. Ossian Cole Simonds (1855-1931) was one of the country's earliest and most important landscape architects, the progenitor of the "middle-western movement" of landscape design. He laid out college campuses, arboreta, estates, parks, and the much admired Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. He was also an influential teacher, author, and founder of university programs in landscape architecture, and the only midwesterner among the eleven charter members of the American Society of Landscape Architects. , South Park was opened to the public for the first time on Sunday, May 18, 1895 to a large crowd. On July 2nd of that year the formal dedication of South Park took place. A parade was held in honor of the park opening led by the Gardner Military Band. It was a gala night on the South Side where the populace turned out in masses in honor of their magnificent new pleasure ground. , Now covering 135 acres, South Park is the second largest park in the city. The park boosts ball fields, playgrounds, bike and walking paths, and an exceptional Prairie style pavilion designed by Quincy architect George Behrensmeyer. Ernest Wood, another Quincy architect, designed two other landmarks in South Park. The first is a bandstand, also done in Prairie style, and the other is the stone bridge over Curtis Creek. The park contains a woodland trail and two ponds, one of which is spring fed. , This trailhead kiosk was added in 2002 by Friends of the Trails through a grant from the Marion Gardner Jackson Charitable Trust Foundation.