Ohio Autumn in Orange

A shot of the Kayak's at Sunset in Newport Lake, Mill Creek Park, Youngstown, Ohio. This shot was taken in late September. Not quite Fall, Late into... more

by Janice Pariza

Title

Ohio Autumn in Orange

Artist

Janice Pariza

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

A shot of the Kayak's at Sunset in Newport Lake, Mill Creek Park, Youngstown, Ohio. This shot was taken in late September. Not quite Fall, Late into Summer, that crispness in the air...
Mill Creek Park is a metropolitan park located in Youngstown, Ohio. It is the second largest metropolitan park in the United States after Fairmount Park in Philadelphia and the 142nd largest park located within the limits of a U.S. city.
The park was founded in 1891 due to the "untiring efforts of Youngstown attorney Volney Rogers". Rogers secured options on much of the land and was able to purchase large tracts of it. This was no small task given that he was compelled to deal with more than 90 landowners. Once the land was secured, Rogers framed and promoted what he called the "Township Park Improvement Law." Upon the law's passage, Rogers turned over all of the land he had secured for park purposes. Rogers had the area declared a park by the state legislature. It officially opened in 1893.

Rogers later enlisted the help of his brother Bruce, who had studied landscape architecture, and Bruce Rogers became the first Mill Creek Park superintendent. Earlier, the project benefited from the contributions of well-known landscape architect Charles Eliot, and Mill Creek Park is regarded as one of his notable works.

The same year that the park opened, the Mahoning County commissioners issued bonds to pay for the parkland, and Rogers purchased $25,000 of them, with the understanding that they would be the last ones paid. Ironically, the financial panic of 1893 facilitated the park's development. As a later newspaper account observed: "Unemployed men found work there. A second bond issue paid for their wages. The men cut trails, established drives, restored Pioneer Pavilion (a renovated factory building that was the oldest structure in the park) and built Lake Cohasset Dam".
Lake Newport & Wetlands[edit]

In 1924, Alice Baldwin Lewis donated 70 acres of land specifying that part of the land was to be used for creating a lake. Mill Creek meandered through this shallow valley making it a suitable site for a man-made lake. In 1928 a dam was built, creating what is now known as Lake Newport. Lake Newport, the largest of Mill Creek Park's three lakes, offers 60 acres of open water and 40 acres of wetlands. Boating and fishing are permitted in season. A boat launch is located on East Newport Drive. Kayaks and pedal boats are available to rent at the Boathouse on West Newport Drive.

The Newport Wetlands, located at the southern end of the lake, provide habitat for a variety of plants and animals. Visitors can experience this complex web of flora and fauna by walking the Albert E. Davies Wetland Trail, a boardwalk through the wetlands with interpretive signs along the way.

Uploaded

March 30th, 2014