The Van Vorst Park Gardens

The Van Vorst Park Gardens. . , During the 1600's, the Van Vorst family owned most of the nearby lowland and marsh from the Hudson river to the hill that climbs up to the old medical center, which they used for farming and fishing. In 1835, the year that Cornelius Van Vorst deeded Van Vorst Park to our City, the railroad industry had begun to fill the local marshes for urban development of this area. Today, Van Vorst is the largest of Jersey City's four historic districts., Since 1991, the Friends of Van Vorst Park has engaged local residents to reclaim and restore this once neglected park and return it to its original beauty. What began as an attempt to make this park a safer place in response to two tragic deaths of neighborhood children became the impetus for the park's renovation. Through dozens of public meetings, surveys, and ballots, hundreds of residents chose the park you see today, which was renovated in 1999., Using plant varieties and designs of Peter Henderson, who landscaped this Park in 1851, resident volunteers have planted and cared for all the gardens since its renovation. These may be the largest public community gardens in the State of New Jersey., Van Vorst felts strongly that his give of land to the City, which would forever carry his family's name, be a passive park., Please keep on the stone path within this garden. , No pets allowed..