Over 200 Years of Springfield’s Parks

JOSEPH CARVALHO III & WAYNE E. PHANEUF

In2021 Springfield’s Parks Department marked its 200th anniversary that began with the acquisition of Court Square in 1821 and continues to add to its hundreds of acres of land and water for public use.

Court Square was sold to the then town of Springfield for $3,000 with the provision that “it never be encumbered with buildings or appropriated for other use other than public common.” This first open space was the beginning of an exemplary parks system that thrives to this day.

Springfield is a city of parks. There is the crown jewel of Forest Park with its hundreds of acres, baseball diamonds, lakes and ponds, a zoo, ice arena, renown festival of lights at Christmas time, the Environmental Center for Our Schools, miles of trails and picnic spots, beautiful gardens and the Barney Carriage House and much more. It is truly one of the oldest (1884) and best parks in America.

During the Civil War a log cabin was constructed on Court Square in 1862 to serve as a City Recruiting

Office. A monument to those who died in the war is at the square along with Miles Morgan’s Statue, a hero of King Philip’s War (1675), U.S. President William McKinley and monuments to the veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Bill Clinton used Court Square for Springfield rallies. For 200 years, this park has been the stage for orchestras, a renown annual Jazz Festival in addition to several protests and public discourses.

The Springfield Parks Department also oversees dozens of other parks and playgrounds throughout the city, along with lakes and pools for swimming, two golf courses and countless terraces and pocket parks. We can thank the forefathers and mothers who stepped up two centuries ago to lay the foundation of one of the greatest park systems in America. We hope you enjoy this book and visit many of the parks that make our city unique.

ABOVE: COURT SQUARE CA. 1900. REPUBLICAN PHOTO ARCHIVES.

LEFT: THOUSANDS JAMMED COURT SQUARE DURING SEN. JOHN F. KENNEDY’S VISIT TO THE CITY BEFORE THE 1960 NATIONAL ELECTION. REPUBLICAN FILE PHOTO.

RIGHT: FOUNTAIN LOCATED IN COURT SQUARE DONATED BY SMITH & WESSON COFOUNDER DANIEL BAIRD