The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-09-25
PUBLIC PARKS
ABOUT ] ] 'TH.E|C:'.T|T|'''Y|'' | | | \
.AVast Improvement #in$
Their Condition lin
Recent Years. {. a S 4.
VALUE EXCEEDS "a
MILLION DOLLARS
l,i n --3 Y 6 9Eag
Monroe Park Planned BY Cen.
OrdwayC Colonel Cutshaw the
Father Of Richmond Parks. s5is
Impr overnents in Streets.
One Hundred Thousand Ss
Trees in City Limits. 3s

I'll In a discussion Of the wonderful fms 4
provement OF conditions In the city OF 4
Richmond, the advance that has beeli
made in tho construction Of streets and
in tho laying out and beautifyng yof (
public parks cannot be lightly passed \
over. 55i 4 " s$t SS3SlS FssS
Within the past ten years ma ny streets \
OF the city havo changed from the rough
roads Of the provincial town to ,.5$t ttle@s
smooth. well paved avenues Of q mod 4 IN
3ern metropolis. S.;S ,ss 4 4 sS
Mr.. Gilbert ,Il.g Pollock, chairman of the 4
Committee on Streets from the 4ltys5
Council, 81 in an interesting and able ar -.s8
&tcle which II is 81 published below, points
out In detail X the reason OF n the slow
growth Of Improvement in his direction
and advocates progressive actions for the X
future.
M, Tho use Of vltrolzed brick In the con--gI;
sstructon OF road beds has, IT, y is AZ sale, ,$
proved satisfactory to the city gineerS
3and 1t s pointed out, hat vi thin aAyeryS
few years, all the principal streets WIN Y
be paved as Upper Frank lin and Grace
Streets now are. si;
4 he roadways have In g meas-S
Surc followed civic alva9c Il rot less $50 N
have theS schemes forfs lnlproven tent In
Ebeautifying the drives Innum erable Htrees
taken from the cl g own nursery have
been planted along the venues and Y
streets and 1t can be said thSall truth Il
that few 4 II any \ Of & the ci ties in hes
United states possess u more & beautiful 4
shade trees than does Richmond.
Hundreds Of Trees.
s3{ Gu Broad street & from II edmond Col.s
3lege to tlia Bouleya I'd 81 q distance ssofa q
mile, grouped In three nttnuous SsroWs, u
are 416 vii low oaks while on theS Boule-5
vnrd, 400 European lindens, grouped Il In
IN three continuous rows, q dorm ID rlve,,5S
way for a mile from the Reserve lr sto5$3 \
Broad Street. On the Pump III ouse Road q 4
GAS American lindens re planted, hll15!
a great forest OF scarlet and sugar m
pie presents q charming picture south i
3of5the Reservor r. ;SS 5SSs
All this excellent work is \ due to the n
forethought Of Colonel w. II. C,,tshaw,#
who rs enrly as 1856 urged y the CitySS
Council to install a city nuseryn,an, for !
i tho purpose Of raising trees for the city Il
and to properly care for those already \
planted in# the public parks and streets.Si
For four years Colonel Cutshaw Scontend-iS
cd in vain for his nursery scheme, and VI
1t was not until 1890 that his Ideas were N
adopted and his plans put into 5exeou-s n
Ston Some idea will be had of the exc,
5cellent work that is being done In this 4
direction from the city engin gineer's report iS
8 1901, which reads as follows:
The City Nursery.
Three thousand nine hundred and 9i
twenty one trees from the nurseries were
planted upon the streets and In the parks IS
Of the city during the year. Two hum "A
T 1fpo,
nine hundred hedge plants were donated. .5i
under resolutions d Of the Council to-
Capitol Square, Mt. Calvary Cemetery. .g
Soldiers Homo, Retreat5f for the Sick and II
& to River View Cemetery and st. y Iohn's ~
aRurying Ground, by Committee on ~
Grounds and buildings one hundred illtlllea
and twenty shade trees We're sold and ~
the mdney turned into the city treasury,
Few persons arc aware OF the Import
anco and purposes OF the tree nurseries "
established somo fourteen years ago at HEa
New Reservo!r Park, There have been.3 *
some as, 900 trees raised In these n urse-iiS
rles, including about S1ls9 taken from
them and replanted upon the streets
and parks Of tho city. and also inolud-B$
Ing about 2,TO4 donated and sold. These
trees embrace almost every va arlety Of Ef
shade tree known In this section OF the Al
country, and have been planted ana PRO-. sSs}
pagated from seedlings, and the small ss
teen years or moro OF age. 5S ne 5orlglnal n
growth. including some full grown trees E
found upon the grounds, have, as FAR as sg
possible, been preserved and cared for.
There arc now approximately $4,000 trees Il
In nll at Reservoir Park, including those III
OF original growth, s S
Tree Planting, 81
Tree planting, both along streets ana 6}
park roads, where continuously sroupsd y
in rows, and In q mixed manner for torT
est effect, In tho parks. Is being done #
In a Systematic manner by proper selec.-
ton, spacing and planting; and where n
replaced on the older streets. are made -
ia conform, as far as possible, to trees ISL
already on the streets, which IN time.
should gradually correct the errors OF
selecting, spacing and planting, now unt
fortunately found on many streets, II \
has been suggested to have the trees
labelled with their numes SO persons 3
could learn them and Instruct others. a a
far better way OF accomplishing = ms.
with little trouble and no expense, Would a&
be to take list OF tho trees, with their,
locations. to the parks ana there W observe s #$
and study them under the guidance ana 81
explanations Of the parkKeepers; and ass n
pecally In the tree nurseries under ID
most sklllful nurseryman, who can show +.
the trees from the seeds to the full 3
grown tree. i
The Capitol Square.
rhe first public park to be laid out
within the city limits was the Capitol N
Square, but this was, OF course, state n
property. over which the city had mo !
authority. 8s,5 8 s3 s5s ssl
Before tho Civil Var there We're no #
publlo parks belonging to Richmond, and, z
strange as It way seem. tho first that
was owned by the city was purchased by y
the advice and through the, inlluepce of "
a Northern man. n Federal OF flcer, who AS
after the war made Richmond his hope
What Is now known as Monroe Park
was before the war the old fair grounds NM
where races and cattle EXHIBITS were