Edward Payson Park is a 47.5 acres (19.2 ha) public park on Ocean Avenue in Portland

Portland, Maine

Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...

, Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

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Longfellow Arboretum

The Longfellow Arboretum is a 2.5 acres (1 ha) 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...

 on the southwestern corner the park beside a small tidal marsh which connects the park to Back Cove

Back Cove, Portland, Maine

Back Cove is an estuary basin on the northern side of the City of Portland, Maine's downtown district. It is nearly circular and about one mile in diameter. A popular loop trail runs around the circumference of the cove. Being tidal, Back Cove dries out to mud flats at low tide and is not...

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The arboretum contains approximately 40 non-native trees, including Betula nigra, Cercidiphyllum, and Stewartia. The arboretum is named in honor of American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...

 (1807–1882) who grew up in the nearby Wadsworth-Longfellow House

Wadsworth-Longfellow House

The Wadsworth-Longfellow House is an historic house and museum in Portland, Maine, United States. It is located at 489 Congress Street and is operated by the Maine Historical Society. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962, and administratively added to the National Register of...

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Sliding

Payson Park's is a known as a top location for sliding and in 2008, Payson Hill Terrain Park, a ski and snowboard terrain park located on the park's western edge, was established to encourage children to take up the sports. It was the only municipal park in the United States to offer free skiing and riding lessons.