The setting of Benton Park is one of the most beautiful in the city, with intact streets surrounding it on all sides except for Jefferson on the west.
Set as a typical Victorian park, with long winding trails that snake around the park, it was designed for strolls, and not as a formal space.
Interestingly, I just learned the massive and well-preserved English Cave complex is still hidden deep under much of the park.
Preserved because the park never massive development, it was sealed in the Twentieth Century, but there may still be entrances in some of the houses in the area.
As can be seen from the high point in the park, which commands stunning views over the area, the nearby Lemp Brewery took advantage of its own branch of caves under South City.
Oh, and there's this obelisk, dedicated to some German guy. It sits resplendently alone, on top of the ridge of a hill on the south side of the park.
Looks like a nice little park. I've never been, which is surprising considering the amount of time I've spent in the neighborhood. I'll have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteI grew up across the street. It's a wonderful city park. Lots of memories playing in the pine trees up near that monument. Occasionally a car would get confused thinking it could drive through the park and end up in the big lake :) The caves under the park could cause quite a bit of trouble too, more than one morning we'd wake and the pond would be completely empty because part of the bottom would have collapsed and the water would have drained into the lake.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the pictures.
Ah yes, I've read about the accidental drainings; supposedly the park service sealed the bottom of the lake with a concrete basin. Did that solve the problem?
DeleteThe obelisk is dedicated to Friedrich Hecker, an immigrant who fled Germany after the failure of the democratic movement - he was QUITE prominent in it, as well as later in our Civil War in some very notable battles. See http://www.thecivilwarmuse.com/index.php?page=hecker-monument
ReplyDeleteMore on the park and the monument: http://bentonpark.com/content/benton-park