Frick Park
| Frick Park | |
|---|---|
Reynolds St. Entrance
|
|
| Type | Municipal Park |
| Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates | 40°25′56″N 79°54′18″W / 40.432314°N 79.904904°W |
| Area | 644 acres (2.61 km2) |
| Created | 1919 |
| Operated by | City of Pittsburgh Citiparks, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy |
| Website | www.pittsburghparks.org/frick |
Frick Park is the largest municipal park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, covering 644 acres (2.61 km2). It is one of Pittsburgh's four historic large parks.
The park began when Henry Clay Frick, upon his death in 1919, bequeathed 151 acres (0.61 km2) south of Clayton, his Point Breeze mansion (which is now part of the Frick Art & Historical Center). He also arranged for a $2 million trust fund ($27.6 million today) for long-term maintenance for the park, which opened on June 25, 1927. He did this against his will, but rather acquiesced to his daughter, Helen's debutante wish which he had promised to honor.
Henry Clay Frick's son, Childs Frick, developed his lifelong love of animals in the woods and ravines of the park. Childs Frick went on to be a renowned American vertebrate paleontologist, major benefactor and trustee of the American Museum of Natural History.
Over the years, the park grew from the original land in Point Breeze and now includes Squirrel Hill to the border of Edgewood. It is one of the few areas of a city that Frick helped industrialize, where steep ravines and mature woods remain relatively undisturbed, forming a nature reserve of native plants and abundant wildlife. Owls, amphibians, wild turkey, fox, and many mammal species are found in the park.
During construction, the Frick Environmental Center is operating out of the Blue Slide Park entrance of Frick Park in Squirrel Hill.
Fire
In 2002, the old Frick Environmental Center, a wooden structure located just inside the park entrance caught fire, rendering the structure functionally unusable. The center offers programs about the park's habitats and ecology, including the park's 151-acre Frick Woods Nature Reserve. In 2006, the City of Pittsburgh Public Parks purchased 2 70 ft. by 20 ft. trailer and placed them near the park entrance.
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Wikipedia