Fairmount Park
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Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is one of the largest municipal public parks in the world, at over 9,100 acres (37 km²). This figure includes all parkland within the city limits, as all 65 city parks are considered part of Fairmount Park and overseen by the Fairmount Park Commission. Fairmount Park proper occupies nearly half that area, at over 4,100 acres (17 km²) on both banks of the Schuylkill River and Wissahickon Creek.
The park grew out of the Lemon Hill estate of Henry Pratt, dedicated to the public by the City Council on September 28, 1855. The site of the Centennial Exposition of 1876 and the location of the first zoo in the United States, the Philadelphia Zoo (1874), Fairmount Park was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 7, 1972.
Included in its vast area is the Centennial Arboretum, Philadelphia's Horticulture Center, Fairmount Water Works, William Peters' Belmont Mansion (1745), and Japanese house. Although it is significantly larger than New York's Central Park, it is spread out throughout Philadelphia, rather than condensed in one central block. On the north end, the park connects with Valley Forge National Historical Park, and on the south end, the Schuylkill Banks.
The Fairmount Area is also host to the Fairmount Sports Association baseball league.
