Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with the two sections together totalling 2,052 acres (830 ha). Management of Fairmount Park and the entire citywide park system is overseen by Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, a city department created in 2010 from the merger of the Fairmount Park Commission and the Department of Recreation.
Fairmount Park | |
U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
Belmont Plateau view toward Center City | |
| Location | Both banks of Schuylkill River and Wissahickon Creek, from Spring Garden St. to Northwestern Ave. in Philadelphia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°59′22″N 75°12′10″W |
| Area | Schuylkill River 2,052 acres (830 ha), Wissahickon Creek 2,042 acres (826 ha) (8.26 square kilometers) |
| Built | 1812 |
| Architect | Robert Morris Copeland; Olmsted & Vaux et al. |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Georgian, Federal |
| NRHP reference No. | 72001151 |
| Added to NRHP | February 7, 1972 |
Many of the city's other parks had historically also been included in the Fairmount Park system prior to 2010, including Wissahickon Valley Park in Northwest Philadelphia, Pennypack Park in Northeast Philadelphia, Cobbs Creek Park in West Philadelphia, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in South Philadelphia, and 58 additional parks, parkways, plazas, squares, and public golf courses spread throughout the city. Since the 2010 merger, however, the term "Fairmount Park system" is no longer used by the Parks & Recreation department, and the adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park and all other park areas are considered completely separate entities.