Elizabeth Park - Hartford, Connecticut
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 41° 46.432 W 072° 43.092
18T E 689646 N 4627185
Elizabeth Park was designed by the Olmsted firm and the park shows the trademark Olmsted vistas of overlooks above expanses of meadows, fields and water. It is best known for its International Rose Test Garden.
Waymark Code: WM14D2
Location: Connecticut, United States
Date Posted: 01/10/2007
Views: 73
The area which is now known as Elizabeth Park was once owned by Charles H. Pond. Mr. Pond was a wealthy industrialist and statesman whose career included the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, Hartford National Bank, and Treasurer of the State of Connecticut.
When Mr. Pond passed away, he willed his estate to the City of Hartford with the stipulations that it be used as a horticultural park and that it be named for his wife, Elizabeth, who had died a few years earlier.
The City hired the landscape firm of Olmsted and Son to design the park and the park shows the trademark Olmsted vistas of overlooks above expanses of meadows, fields and water. The City hired Theodore Wirth as its first park superintendent to design the individual garden areas. Mr. Wirth's first project was to create a rose garden because, in his words, "it would please the people." This first planting grew from 100 bushes to the two and a half acre garden of some 15,000 bushes that is the center piece of Elizabeth Park and is known throughout the world.
Today the park encompasses 102 acres and boasts many garden areas, pathways, greenhouses, lawns, a picnic grove, a pond and recreation areas.
Type of Public Space: Park
Job Number: 00800
Architect: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
There are no specific visit requirements, however telling about your visit is strongly encouraged. Additional photos of the park to add to the gallery are also nice, but not required. Pictures with a GPS or you in them is highly discouraged.