Village Maintains Six Parks

History - Newark

Village Maintains Six Parks - 1978
Excerpted from Annals of Arcadia by Cecilia Jackson, copyright 1978

'Meet you for a set of tennis at Perkins Park!'

'The Co-Pilots are playing at home tonight at Colburn Park.' 'Let's watch the Little League game tomorrow at Perkins field.' And so it goes as the summer months bring the park season to Newark.

Newark has 41.32 acres of parks with one for each area of the village. The first park, appropriately called Central, was laid out with the original village plans when Joseph Miller plotted the first streets. It was not until 1847 that Stephen Culver and Clark Phillips looked at the barren waste where cows and pigs roamed at will and decided something should be done.

Culver and Phillips fenced the .86 acre and planted trees. Thus the first village park was created through the enterprise of two men. On through the years this has been true in the creation of other parks. Hard work and persistence was used to get each of Newark's six parks.

In 1913 when a number of buildings were removed along the north side of East Union Street to make way for the construction of the Barge Canal, Newark's first Park Commissioner, Edward B. Elliott, Sr., decided to do something about the appearance of the land. This was state property and permission had to be secured from the state to beautify the barren area. Arther N. Christy was then president of the village. Over his name a request was written to the superintendent of Public Works of the State requesting permission to make use of the state land on the southerly side of the Erie Canal for the purpose of improving it by planting trees, shrubs and plants and seeding the bare land to grass.

It was almost two years, and under the village presidency of Charles A. Hyman, that the village was finally granted use of the land with certain limitations.

Older residents recall that Edward B. Elliott, Sr. spent his days from early morning until the workmen put up their shovels in the late afternoon, supervising the work of creating the park. Through his friendship with C.W. Stuart he was able to secure shrubs which would otherwise have been discarded at the end of the selling season. A fountain and drinking fountain were installed with the resulting pleasant park area. It was not until June 5, 1923 that the village acknowledged Mr. Elliott's efforts by naming the area 'Elliott Park' by resolution of the village board. While no buildings could be erected on the park a sign designating the name is allowed. No steps were taken by the village at that time.

In order to avoid confusion in the future, T. Spencer Knight, who held the office of Park Commissioner from April 1933 until March 1960 is providing a bronze plaque naming the park and the village is providing a boulder and concrete base such as is already used in Perkins Park and Perkins field.

An interview with T. Spencer Knight explains the growth and development of the other Newark parks. In 1926 Mr. Knight started agitating for a swimming pool. He wanted it for a permanent living memorial. E.F. Fox was chairman of the committee. It was left to the vote of veterans organizations such as the GAR and the Legion. However, they voted for the granite monument at Central Park which was dedicated May 30,1928.

As a result Mr. Knight was not satisfied and continued plans for a swimming pool in a park. The whole area of Perkins Park was at that time the propagating beds for Jackson and Perkins who did not want to give it up. Stuart Perkins talked with his father, George, urging him to give the land to the village. (George Perkins, son of C.H. Perkins the founder, was president of the company from 1910 until 1928 when his cousin, C.H. Perkins became president.) C.H. Perkins was not in favor of the park. However, George Perkins persuaded him to change the propagating area to make available the land for a park.

James Pullman Porter, Extension man at Cornell, who specialized in layouts of parks laid out the original plans for Perkins Park, which included a swimming pool. It took about three years to get all the property while Jackson and Perkins developed their new propagating area. The village gave permission for the park on June 28,1927.

George Perkins bought the land from Jackson and Perkins to give it for a park to the village. C.H. Perkins wanted Jackson and Perkins to have the credit for giving the land. Stuart Perkins deserves a great deal of credit for the work he did in securing the park. He was a very public spirited man, according to Mr. Knight.

After the village agreed to accept the park, the Park commission organized a public campaign of groups who contributed $75. and another $150 to develop the park. Many thousands were raised. This, of course, was before the depression years. Members of the old Park commission were T.S. Knight, Peter Sleight, Douglas Colburn, Charles Drake, George Burnham, John Metcalf who were the workers. Returns were good. After they secured the park the pool area was staked out on the plans but the funds did not extend to the amount needed. The village did not have funds to put into the pool, which at that time could have been built for $6,000. Many trips were made by village officials and the park commission to see area pools in operation but funds were not available.

Much of the planting in the park was done with the cooperation of Jackson and Perkins. Material was secured from the annual clean up in the nurseries. C.H. Perkins gave the evergreens. The village had to buy mowing equipment and other maintenance equipment. Neal Pelis was in charge for the village. Use of the park progressed and was used more and more by church groups, clubs, family reunions and individual families. An area was reserved for the village playgrounds. A plaque noting that the park was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. George Perkins was placed in a prominent place.

About this time Douglas Colburn, a resident of East Newark, suggested that a park be built in his area. The village was looking for projects for the depression years. The area of Colburn Park was discussed and viewed and rented from the state. Tennis courts were constructed, a baseball diamond made. Garry Fremouw was in charge of the WPA workers both at Colburn and for the cement tennis courts at Perkins Park.

According to Mr. Knight, Fremouw got work out of the WPA workers by increasing the amount to be done by fifty percent then telling the men when they were finished they could go home. This worked.

Today Colburn Park is the playing field for the Co-Pilots, American Legion baseball, P.A.L. baseball, Lombardi Football League and high school playoffs. The Colburn Park area was first leased from the state and later a quit claim was received in exchange for another piece of property.

Lincoln Park was the next park to be developed and while it was not accepted by the village until 1964, much work was done before that. T. S. Knight purchased the first playground equipment for that park. Francis Mason supported the project. In winter, a portion of the area is flooded for ice skating so the north side of the village would have a rink comparable to the Community Center. While the park covers 14.19 acres, so far only six acres have been developed. It provides picnic tables and tennis courts and a ball diamond.

E.E. Marsh, a member of the Wayne County Park Commission was always

active in park work. He was one of the early presidents of the Newark Garden Club, an organization suggested by the park planner, James Pullman Porter :

When the village first talked of building the Junior-Senior High School, now the Junior High School, the State Education Department had passed a ruling that schools must have five acres of land. The commission knew at the time they could never carry a bond issue for a school on the edge of town. The. cost of the adjoining property to the future site was too high. Ralph S. Smith and Mr. Knight worked long and hard talking about getting the property from the park for playground purposes only. They were running out of time for a WPA project. Stuart Perkins approved the idea. His parents had moved to California. With letters and telephone calls he finally got his father, George Perkins, to give his permission to satisfy the state. The land given for Perkins Park had a reversion clause that if it was not used for a park it reverted to the heirs. Approval was finally secured from Mr. and Mrs. Perkins almost at the last day for a WPA project and the school was secured and the park kept.

Previously Mr. and Mrs. George Perkins recognizing the need of the high school f or an athletic field had given the 4.25 acres of land at the comer of East Maple and Hoffman Streets for that purpose.

Merle Herrington, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, reports that George C. Perkins and his wife, Caroline M. Perkins by deed September 17,1924 and recorded October 3, 1924 conveyed to the Board of Education of Union Free School District No. 8, Town of Arcadia, the land at the comer of Hoffman and E. Maple Avenue known as Perkins Field, commonly called Hallagan Field. The same property was conveyed by transfer on January 8, 1974 to the Village of Newark for a public playground and park.

This of course was after the senior high school with its large area for athletics was in use and Perkins Field was no longer needed by the school system.

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