Hartford Park

Frederick Law Olmsted began the development of the Hartford Park System, now consisting of 31 parks, in the 1890s. An 1892 plan (00800-1) shows a map of the county’s five primary parks, comprising of Bushnell Park (00801), Rocky Hill Park, Pope Park (00805), Pond Park, and the proposed Riverside Park (00806). After a request from the Park Committee for a grading and decoration plan, Olmsted created and re-designed several parks between the years of 1894-1904, leading to a period of time referred to as the “Rain of Parks”. Intended to connect through a series of parkways, consistent flooding and the expansion of surrounding roads and highways prevented the plan from being completed. The Olmsted firms would remain involved in Hartford until the 1940s, assisting in the establishment of Goodwin Park (00802), and Keney Park (00803).