Anderson Park, New Jersey
Encyclopedia
Anderson Park is a county park located in Montclair
, New Jersey
, United States
. Anderson park is part of the Essex County
park system.
Eventually Montclair started a commission and the Frederick Law Olmsted
firm was chosen to design the park, and it was completed on August 4, 1903. This firm is well known for designing much of the National Mall
in Washington D.C. and Central Park
in New York City
. In the end the park plans called for a smaller park that only extended to where Parkside Road is now located.
The park has the distinction of being the first park in the Essex County Park Commission, which was the first county wide network of parks.
In 2006 fifty garbage cans were installed around the park, and the soccer fields were costily redone as part of a general renovation. The public disapproved of trash cans every 35 feet (10.7 m), so many were removed.
In August 2007 swastikas and other racist graffiti was found in the park, and promptly removed
. It is in a small depression caused by Toney's Brook
, which flows through the park. Anderson Park is within approximately two minutes of walking distance from the center of the commercial zone in Upper Montclair
on Bellevue Avenue and Valley Road, the Upper Montclair Railway Station
, and is across the street from the childhood home of Buzz Aldrin
. The park is bordered in the north by Bellevue Avenue, in the west by North Mountain Avenue, in the south by Parkside Avenue, and in the east by Toney's Brook
and the railroad right of way of New Jersey Transit
's Montclair-Boonton Line
.
Montclair, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,977 people, 15,020 households, and 9,687 families residing in the township. The population density was 6,183.6 people per square mile . There were 15,531 housing units at an average density of 2,464.0 per square mile...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Anderson park is part of the Essex County
Essex County, New Jersey
Essex County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 783,969, ranking it third in the state after Bergen County and Middlesex County; Essex County's population has declined from 786,147 as of the bureau's...
park system.
History
In the late 19th century C.W. Anderson, founder of the park, Prominent Montclair resident, and record-holding commuter, decided that there should be a park from Bellevue Avenue to Watchung Avenue and from the railroad right-of-way to North Mountain Road. The land which he was talking about at the time was a swampy area that many thought to be a health risk.Eventually Montclair started a commission and the Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
firm was chosen to design the park, and it was completed on August 4, 1903. This firm is well known for designing much of the National Mall
National Mall
The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The National Mall is a unit of the National Park Service , and is administered by the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit...
in Washington D.C. and Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In the end the park plans called for a smaller park that only extended to where Parkside Road is now located.
The park has the distinction of being the first park in the Essex County Park Commission, which was the first county wide network of parks.
In 2006 fifty garbage cans were installed around the park, and the soccer fields were costily redone as part of a general renovation. The public disapproved of trash cans every 35 feet (10.7 m), so many were removed.
In August 2007 swastikas and other racist graffiti was found in the park, and promptly removed
Name
The park was originally going to be called 'Montclair Park', but the town wanted it to be renamed to Anderson Park in honor of the man who thought up the idea of the park and funded some of it, C.W. Anderson.Qualities
The park has a circuitous path that goes around its central lawn and is exactly 3/5 of a mile long. On the path there are many places to stop and take a rest at the many, newly installed benches. It is possible to walk around at night because in early 2008 new lights were installed which are around the path. The park has a large open grass space that takes up most of the park and is sometimes used for lacrosse and field hockey games. The park is also host to an Arts and Crafts fair annually.Location
Anderson Park is located in Northern Montclair, very close to the slope of the First Watchung MountainWatchung Mountains
The Watchung Mountains are a group of three long low ridges of volcanic origin, between 400 ft. and 500 ft. high, lying parallel to each other in northern New Jersey in the United States...
. It is in a small depression caused by Toney's Brook
Toney's Brook
Toney's Brook is a tributary of the Second River in Essex County, New Jersey in the United States.Toney's Brook originates in Montclair just northwest of the Upper Montclair railway station. In Montclair it is joined by two tributary streams and continues through Anderson Park, Edgemont Memorial...
, which flows through the park. Anderson Park is within approximately two minutes of walking distance from the center of the commercial zone in Upper Montclair
Upper Montclair, New Jersey
Upper Montclair is northern Montclair, which is usually reckoned as everything north of Watchung Avenue. Upper Montclair takes up approximately one third of Montclair, New Jersey-Education:...
on Bellevue Avenue and Valley Road, the Upper Montclair Railway Station
Upper Montclair (NJT station)
Upper Montclair is a New Jersey Transit station in Montclair, New Jersey along the Montclair-Boonton Line. The station is located between two grade level crossings on Bellevue Avenue and Lorraine Avenue, and between North Mountain Avenue and Upper Montclair Plaza parallel to the railroad, and is...
, and is across the street from the childhood home of Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
. The park is bordered in the north by Bellevue Avenue, in the west by North Mountain Avenue, in the south by Parkside Avenue, and in the east by Toney's Brook
Toney's Brook
Toney's Brook is a tributary of the Second River in Essex County, New Jersey in the United States.Toney's Brook originates in Montclair just northwest of the Upper Montclair railway station. In Montclair it is joined by two tributary streams and continues through Anderson Park, Edgemont Memorial...
and the railroad right of way of New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
's Montclair-Boonton Line
Montclair-Boonton Line
The Montclair-Boonton Line is a commuter rail line of New Jersey Transit Rail Operations. It is part of the Hoboken Division. The line is a consolidation of three individual lines: the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad's Montclair Branch, which ran from Hoboken Terminal to Bay Street,...
.
External links
- Essex County Parks
- http://www.friendsofandersonpark.com Friends of Anderson Park