Crapo Park
Encyclopedia
Crapo Park is a city park with arboretum
and botanical garden
, located alongside the Mississippi River
at Parkway Drive, Burlington, Iowa
. Those who are not familiar with the park often mispronounce it as "Crap-O" Park while the correct pronunciation is Cray-po Park. It is reputed to be the site where the American flag was first raised on Iowa
's soil, by Zebulon Pike
in 1805.
The park includes an arboretum
with over 200 varieties of trees and shrubs, as well as botanical gardens of annuals
and perennials. As of 2003, the following park trees were on Iowa's statewide "Big Tree" list: Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica
), black hickory (Carya glabra), pawpaw (Asimina triloba
), and black walnut (Juglans nigra).
The park was established in 1895 by Philip Crapo, a local businessman and philanthropist
, in time for the Iowa semi-centennial (1896), with landscape engineering by Earnshaw and Punshon of Cincinnati, Ohio
. The park includes walking paths and four shelters, as well as Lake Starker (constructed 1905, 1.5 acres (6,070.3 m²), 0.6 hectares), the Hawkeye Natives Log Cabin (replica constructed 1910), Zebulon Pike Memorial, and Foehlinger Fountain. It also includes the Black Hawk Spring and Cave, commemorating Chief Black Hawk
. One can crawl for more than a hundred feet through a rock tube before the passage gets too small. A cold spring runs through the cave as well. The neighboring Dankwardt Park is popular with frisbee-golf enthusiasts.
One of the primary downsides of the park is the narrow roads that wind through it, the road width, and the brick drainages on either side, which taper rather sharply, can sometimes be a hazard, especially when a driver gets his tires stuck in the drainages.
The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1976.
In 2007, Main Street was blocked off while crews attempt to repair, or replace the aging 150 year old Cascade Bridge, which leads to the park, as of August, 2010, the bridge still remains closed.
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
and botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
, located alongside the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
at Parkway Drive, Burlington, Iowa
Burlington, Iowa
Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,663 in the 2010 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in the 2000 census. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area including West Burlington, Iowa and Middletown, Iowa and...
. Those who are not familiar with the park often mispronounce it as "Crap-O" Park while the correct pronunciation is Cray-po Park. It is reputed to be the site where the American flag was first raised on Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
's soil, by Zebulon Pike
Zebulon Pike
Zebulon Montgomery Pike Jr. was an American officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a United States Army captain in 1806-1807, he led the Pike Expedition to explore and document the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase and to find the headwaters of the Red River,...
in 1805.
The park includes an arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
with over 200 varieties of trees and shrubs, as well as botanical gardens of annuals
Annuals
Annuals is a six-piece indie-pop outfit from Raleigh and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band was started by Adam Baker in 2003 as a side project of the still active sister band Sunfold, formerly known as Sedona and headed up by lead guitarist Kenny Florence....
and perennials. As of 2003, the following park trees were on Iowa's statewide "Big Tree" list: Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica
Cupressus arizonica
Cupressus arizonica, the Arizona Cypress, is a species of cypress native to the southwest of North America, in the United States in Arizona, southwest New Mexico, southern California, and the Chisos Mountains of west Texas, and in Mexico in Coahuila, Chihuahua, Durango, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas and...
), black hickory (Carya glabra), pawpaw (Asimina triloba
Asimina triloba
Asimina triloba, the pawpaw, paw paw, paw-paw, or common pawpaw, is a species of Asimina in the same plant family as the custard-apple, cherimoya, sweetsop, ylang-ylang and soursop...
), and black walnut (Juglans nigra).
The park was established in 1895 by Philip Crapo, a local businessman and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
, in time for the Iowa semi-centennial (1896), with landscape engineering by Earnshaw and Punshon of Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. The park includes walking paths and four shelters, as well as Lake Starker (constructed 1905, 1.5 acres (6,070.3 m²), 0.6 hectares), the Hawkeye Natives Log Cabin (replica constructed 1910), Zebulon Pike Memorial, and Foehlinger Fountain. It also includes the Black Hawk Spring and Cave, commemorating Chief Black Hawk
Black Hawk (chief)
Black Hawk was a leader and warrior of the Sauk American Indian tribe in what is now the United States. Although he had inherited an important historic medicine bundle, he was not one of the Sauk's hereditary civil chiefs...
. One can crawl for more than a hundred feet through a rock tube before the passage gets too small. A cold spring runs through the cave as well. The neighboring Dankwardt Park is popular with frisbee-golf enthusiasts.
One of the primary downsides of the park is the narrow roads that wind through it, the road width, and the brick drainages on either side, which taper rather sharply, can sometimes be a hazard, especially when a driver gets his tires stuck in the drainages.
The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1976.
In 2007, Main Street was blocked off while crews attempt to repair, or replace the aging 150 year old Cascade Bridge, which leads to the park, as of August, 2010, the bridge still remains closed.