Washington Park History / Cannon From Farragut's Fleet At Mobile Bay

Washington Park History, also, Cannon From Farragut's Fleet At Mobile Bay. . Washington Park History , The design of Washington Park in 2012 marks 200 years of change to this now eight-acre suburban oasis, which has served Cincinnati in various ways since the early years of the City., From 1810 until 1855, parts of the site were used as cemeteries. Scientists at the time believed cemeteries released vapors that made residents sick, so the City acquired the land and reinterred most of the remains in Spring Grove Cemetery. The land then became a public park, featuring many different attractions through the years. Park features included a sequence of bandstands, walkways lined with benches, fountains, a pond, a wading pool, and a swimming pool. Industrial expositions in the late 19th Century resulted in the installation of temporary structures in the park. George Kessler, the nationally prominent landscape architect who was the author of the Cincinnati Parks Master Plan, did a plan for the park in 1907 that included a central open lawn area and a wading pool along 14th Street. Through this plan was not followed, a wading pool was later built within the park and the latest renovation and expansion of the park included a large open lawn area as first proposed by Kessler. Mid-20th Century park additions included a swimming pool, a comfort station, and playground. The swimming pool was removed, and a new comfort station and playground were built during the 2012 renovation., North of the park along 14th street, the Washington Park Elementary School served the community from 1958 to 2007. It was demolished and the acreage was added to the park at the beginning of its 2011 reconstruction and expansion., Many features deteriorated during the Great Depression and throughout World War II and were later removed. The park remained in need of improvement until 2007, when a public-private partnership led by the City of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Park Board, and the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation created a new plan for its renovation expansion. The plan included the addition of an underground parking garage and complete reconstruction of the park. Work began in 2011, and reopened to the public in the summer of 2012., Cannon From Farragut's Fleet At Mobile Bay , Mobile Bay, Alabama was the last important port on the Gulf of Mexico able to supply Confederate troops. It was controlled by a Confederate fleet and defended by three forts. Union Rear Admiral David Farragut attacked Mobile Bay with a fleet of 18 vessels on August 5, 1864. During the battle that ensued, 150 seamen in the Union Navy were killed, and 170 were wounded. However, the fleet succeeded in overtaking the bay., This cannon, called a Paret gun in 1864, from Farragut's feet and has been in Washington Park since 1870, acquired from the War Department and donated to Cincinnati by T.W. Seib of the Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Washington Park was a center of activity for army recruitment during the Civil War. Regiments were formed in the park from citizens of Irish, German and African descent. One of the African Americans inducted in the park was Powhatan Beaty. Beaty was later awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry at Chaffin's Farm in New Market Heights, Virginia, a battle fought in September, 1864. The donated cannon was meant to serve as a commemorative monument to Cincinnati soldiers inducted in the park., Anonymous donations and volunteer labor retored the cannon in the mid-1970s. It was restored and reinsatlled again on August 5, 1997, 133 years to the day after the Battle of Mobile Bay., (captions) , Photo of Canon in Washington Park , 1907 Kessler Plan for Washington Park , Powhatan Beaty, First Sergeant, Company G, U.S. Colored Troops. , A young US sailor by a large Parrot Rifle in its carraige on the Gun Deck of a ship.