OLDEST - Urban Park in the Louisiana Purchase Territory - St. Louis, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 36.933 W 090° 12.954
15S E 742400 N 4277792
Established in 1836, or you can just say "Oldest Park West of the Mississippi"
Waymark Code: WMQ9B8
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 01/15/2016
Views: 2
County of site: Independent City of St. Louis
Location of lake: Lafayette Park, Lafayette Square Neighborhood, St. Louis
Park bounded by: Lafayette Ave., Missouri Ave., Mississippi Ave., and Park Ave.
Lake size: 1 acre
"Established by city ordinance in 1851, Lafayette Park is the oldest developed urban park in the vast Louisiana Purchase Territory, acquired from France in 1803. It first served as a parade ground during the Civil War, but was extensively reshaped and beautifully landscaped after the war by the renowned landscape architect, Maximillian Kern, who was its first superintendent. The park truly came into its own during the Victorian "Gilded Age" of the late 1800s, when as many as 10,000 city residents would visit the park on a typical Sunday to enjoy a concert band, cross the lake in a swan boat, stroll among the impressively maintained floral displays, or simply admire the exquisite townhouses and mansions that surrounded the park on all sides." ~ Lafayette Park Conservancy