Photo History of Forest Park

1. Landscapers working at the Barney Estate property, ca. 1890s. Photo courtesy the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History, Springfield Museums. 2. Everett Barney standing atop of the “old Clay mound” glacial deposit used by Native Americans for clay pots, and later by a brick yard. Photo from Park Dept. Annual Report of 1898. 3. The “Omiskanoagwiak” statue at Forest Park by Peter Toth was installed and dedicated in 1984. A Native American ceremony was performed at the event to commemorate the monument dedicated to the “Pioneer Valley Indians” which encompassed the numerous associated Algonquian clans such as the Agawams, Woronokes, Pocumtucks, and many others. Photo by John Suchocki/The Republican 4. The Wood Museum’s 1899 Knox, only the third car made by the Springfield-based company, was owned by Everett Barney, who later donated his estate to the city of Springfield for the creation of Forest Park. Photo courtesy the Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History, Springfield Museums. 5. Postcard of the steps up to the Laurel Hill statues of the Three Graces, ca. 1900. Private collection. 6. Completed Barney Mausoleum. Photo courtesy of the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History, Springfield Museums. 7. Rustic Pavilion and fountain/pool. Photo courtesy of the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History, Springfield Museums. 8. Exterior of the renovated Barney Carriage House, May 11, 1998. Photo by Michael S. Gordon/The Republican 9. Children enjoying a winter woodland hike through Forest Park. Photo courtesy of the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History, Springfield Museums. 10. Pamela Dunn of Rockland, and her 2-year-old niece, Deirdre Finn of Springfield, on a paddleboat at Forest Park’s Porter Lake, April 19, 1988. Republican file photo). 11. Top: Postcard of Porter Lake at Forest Park. In 1919 a stone dam was constructed across Pecousic Brook and approximately 35 acres of meadowland, cattail swamps and ravines were flooded over. To defray the cost of this new beautification project, Sherman D. Porter bequeathed $10,000 and the new body of water appropriately bore his name. Postcard in Private Collection. Bottom: Nature Trail along Pecousic brook, ca. 1930. Postcard courtesy of the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History, Springfield Museums. 12. John Collymore, 5, of Springfield, prepares to throw in his line during a free fishing derby at Forest Park, 2019. Photo by Frederick Gore/The Republican 13. The 1916 Garden of Remembrance in the Rose Garden of Forest Park. Courtesy of Masslive. 14. Kevin Welz, upper right, his daughter, Caitlin Welz, left, and son Brendon Welz, kneeling right, and his grandchildren, Lily Slater, 1 1/2 and Olivia Graves, 8, both seated on the new stone dog that Kevin Welz helped secure for Forest Park. Sept. 19, 2013 by Michael S. Gordon/The Republican 15. Bright Nights lighting display depicting the Everett Barney Mansion, 2017. Photo by Chris Marion/The Republican 16. Dr. Seuss in 1937 sculpting turtle-necked sea-turtle. The hawksbill sea turtle shell came from his dad who, as superintendent of Springfield’s parks, also oversaw the city’s zoo animals. There are 17 known sculptures in the Seuss system of “northodox taxidermy.” 17. “The most celebrated resident” of the Forest Park zoo was Morganetta, a one-year-old Indian elephant had a special building constructed for her occupancy after her arrival in 1965. Photo my Michael S. Gordon/The Republican 18. Entrance to the Zoo and Education Center in Forest Park, 2021.Photo by Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen / The Republican 19. New Forestry operations Center building at Forest Park, April 21,2023. Photo by Joseph Carvalho III/ The Republican 20. Springfield City Forester Alex Sherman tending to seedlings in the Forestry Department’s greenhouse in Forest Park, April 10, 2023. Photo by Don Treeger The Republican

Everett Hosmer Barney was born on December 7, 1835, in Saxonville, a northerly section of Framingham. In 1864 he moved to Springfield and formed a partnership with John Berry, to manufacture skate blades that were readily attachable to various sizes of normal footwear. The Civil War years were a heady era for American business and his patent, granted in 1869, assured his financial success. The firm of Barney & Berry was located in the South End of Springfield, between today’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the old Hampden County jail. The