Forest Park sports public courts for players -- and a whole lot more

November 07, 2004|Ken Smith, Globe Correspondent

SPRINGFIELD -- Forest Park may have been the first in the country to include public boccie courts, but it is a great deal more than that. At 735 acres, it is one of the largest urban parks in the country (Central Park in New York is 840 acres), with large sections of natural woodlands and countless species of planted trees. It is an area of protected open space that would be hard to come by in today's demanding real estate market, land donated by some of the area's wealthiest and most prominent residents -- 45 separate transactions, mostly gifts, in the 1800s.

Orick Herman Greenleaf, who founded the Holyoke Paper Co. and accumulated great wealth, was the first to donate land to the city to establish public open space. In October 1884, he donated 64 acres, the first of a series of gifts forming the nucleus of today's Forest Park. Greenleaf's donation includes the present-day main entrance to the park off Sumner Avenue.

Everett Hosmer Barney is often cited as the most important donor. Born in 1835 in Saxonville, he moved to Springfield in 1864 and formed a partnership with John Berry to manufacture skate blades. In 1890, Barney sold 109 acres to the City of Springfield for $1. When he died in 1916, he left the city his entire 178-acre estate, valued then at almost half a million dollars. According to his will, the land was to be "forever devoted to park purposes under the public park acts of the Commonwealth."

Barney planted trees in the park, including the majestic white pines bordering the athletic fields. He had a fascination with lotuses, importing varieties from Egypt. Once there were seven lotus aquatic gardens in the park; only three remain. He also built a skating pond; today, Barney Pond is still open to the public for ice-skating, and a stone house at the edge offers a respite from the cold -- and occasionally hot chocolate, too.

Barney, his wife, and their only son, who died of malaria when he was 21, are buried in a granite mausoleum atop Barney Hill overlooking Interstate 91 and the Connecticut River. The mausoleum underwent a full restoration last year. Two sphinxes Barney imported from Egypt stand at either end. The family mansion was torn down to make way for I-91, but the carriage house remains and is used for special functions, including weddings and fund-raising events.