Utica Parks and Parkway Historic District is a national historic district located at Utica in Oneida County, New York, United States. It consists of four contributing historic elements: a historic right-of-way known as the Memorial Parkway and the three large parks it connects: Roscoe Conkling Park, F.T. Proctor Park, and T.R. Proctor Park. The district includes seven contributing buildings, three contributing sites, 26 contributing structures, and five contributing objects. The park and parkway system was designed between 1908 and 1914 by the firm of Olmsted Brothers Landscape Associates, headed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.[2] The Utica Zoo is located in Roscoe Conkling Park.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.[1]
Thomas Redfield Proctor (May 25, 1844 - July 4, 1920) was a prominent Utica businessman and philanthropist. Thomas R. Proctor High School is also named for him. Proctor purchased about 400 acres (160 ha) of farmland in 1904 and contracted the Olmstead brothers to design a city parks system. Thomas R. Proctor Park and Roscoe Conkling Park opened to the public in 1909. Proctor had also gifted the smaller Watson-Williams Park to the city in 1897, and Horatio Seymour, Addison C. Miller, Truman K. Butler, and J. Thomas Spriggs Parks in 1908.[3][4][5]
Frederick T. Proctor Park is located on the corner of Rutger Street and Culver Avenue. It is considered the “Crown Jewel” of the district's parks as it is the smallest of the three, containing 62 acres (25 ha) of land.[6] The Works Progress Administration contributed in building some of the parks' structures;[4] these structures were not part of the original park plan, but still hold historical significance.[7] The park includes a lily pond, a butterfly garden, bathhouses and stonework. Many of the trees and flowers in the park were planted by volunteers.[8] The Starch Factory Creek, which is known for its landscape and its woods, flows through T. R. Proctor Park and F. T. Proctor Park.[7] The park hosts the city's Fourth of July fireworks.[9]
100 acres (40 ha) Thomas R. Proctor Park is south of F. T. Proctor Park on the corner of Culver Avenue and Welshbush Road. It has 100 acres (40 ha) of land with baseball and soccer fields, basketball courts, a playground and running trail.[10]
Roscoe Conkling Park is located along Oneida Street and the Memorial Parkway totaling up to 625 acres (253 ha). This was the first park developed by the Proctor brothers in 1909. It was designed to give Utica a pastoral appearance. The park includes the Utica Zoo, Valley View Golf Course, Val Bialas Ski and Sled Chalet, Parkway Recreation Center, John Mott Tennis Courts, South Woods switchback trails and several monuments. Roscoe Conkling Park also has many memorials and statues, including the Eagle Monument.[10]
The Utica Zoo is situated on the park's grounds and features over 200 animals on forty acres of land. The Park also includes the Valley View Golf Course, which was designed by Robert Trent Jones.[11]
During the winter, visitors can visit the Val Bialas Ski and Sled Chalet, named for local Olympian ice skater Valentine Bialas. It offers a rope tow, chair lift, night skiing, an ice rink and chalet with a snack bar.[10] During the winter The South Woods Switchback Trails are groomed for cross country skiing.
The Parkway Recreation Center, also known as the Edward A. Hanna Recreation Center, contains two modified basketball courts, a playground, weight training station, exercise equipment, walking track, tennis courts, computer room, conference area, and the Utica Sport Hall of Fame. The Recreation Center also accommodates the Utica Boys & Girls Club and the Parkway Senior Center.[12]
The Memorial Parkway is a divided parkway with a wide grassy median for most of its length. East of Mohawk Valley Community College the two sides join, and east of the Utica Armory it becomes Culver Avenue. From west to east, the monuments on the Memorial Parkway are:[13][14][15]