Marquand Park
Encyclopedia
Marquand Park is a 17 acres (68,796.6 m²) arboretum
and recreational area located in the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey
. It contains walking paths, a baseball field, and attractions for children such as a sandbox and a play structure.
professor Judge Richard Field, who bought 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) of farmland in 1842 for his personal estate. Fields and others began developing the land as an arboretum, and its development continued under Susan Brown, who acquired the land in 1871, and under Princeton University Professor Allan Marquand
, who acquired the property in 1885.
In 1953, 17 acres (68,796.6 m²) of the land were given to Princeton borough by the Marquand family, and in 1955 a non-profit foundation was created to care for the park. Under the care of the Marquand Park Foundation, over 100 new species and trees of shrubs have been donated to the park or purchased by the foundation for it.
can be found in the park. Other well-known trees there include a dawn redwood, a critically endangered species which was thought to be extinct until a specimen was discovered in Japan in 1945, and a threadleaf Japanese Maple, which is well known for the corkscrew-like shape of its trunk and branches. (Photographs of the Japanese Maple can be found here.)
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 recreational area located in the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey
Borough of Princeton, New Jersey
The Borough of Princeton is a borough and is one of the two municipalities making up Princeton, New Jersey. It lies in Mercer County, New Jersey, and is completely surrounded by Princeton Township, from which it was formed in 1894...
. It contains walking paths, a baseball field, and attractions for children such as a sandbox and a play structure.
History
Marquand Park was originally the property of the Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
professor Judge Richard Field, who bought 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) of farmland in 1842 for his personal estate. Fields and others began developing the land as an arboretum, and its development continued under Susan Brown, who acquired the land in 1871, and under Princeton University Professor Allan Marquand
Allan Marquand
Allan Marquand was an art historian at Princeton University and a curator of the Princeton University Art Museum.Marquand was the son of Henry Gurdon Marquand, a prominent philanthropist and art collector. After graduating from Princeton in 1874, Allan obtained his Ph.D. in Philosophy in 1880, at...
, who acquired the property in 1885.
In 1953, 17 acres (68,796.6 m²) of the land were given to Princeton borough by the Marquand family, and in 1955 a non-profit foundation was created to care for the park. Under the care of the Marquand Park Foundation, over 100 new species and trees of shrubs have been donated to the park or purchased by the foundation for it.
Notable trees
Eight of the largest trees of their species recorded in New JerseyNew 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...
can be found in the park. Other well-known trees there include a dawn redwood, a critically endangered species which was thought to be extinct until a specimen was discovered in Japan in 1945, and a threadleaf Japanese Maple, which is well known for the corkscrew-like shape of its trunk and branches. (Photographs of the Japanese Maple can be found here.)