Union County Park Commission

Inspired by the Olmsted designed Essex County Park System, the Union County Park Commission was established in 1921. (See job 02120) When the census count for Union County surpassed 200,000 people the year prior, the municipal government was legally required to provide public parks and recreation space for local residents. The Board of Park Commissioners hired the Olmsted Brothers, who were by this time well involved in New Jersey’s county planning, to survey the region and design a complete park system. The firm considered the landscape to be ideally malleable due to “its gentle topography and distribution of its lines of communication”. [Olmsted Brothers to HS Chatfield_1921-07-05_LOC-OAR-B_06957-im.6] Color coded plans ranging from 1921-1929 identified authorized and proposed locations, and construction of the first park began in 1923. Three parks were completed in the 1920s, including Rahway River Park (01073) and Warinanco Park (07170). An integral component of the park system’s design was its proposed ecological connections to green spaces in neighboring Essex County. Additional plans were drawn up between 1958-1965, as Union County considered expanding their park system.