Wick Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wick Park (known by the National Register of Historic Places as, "The Wick Park Historic District") is a neighborhood on the north side of Youngstown, Ohio, named after the park that is the centerpiece of the area. For many years the Wick Park District was one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the city of Youngstown.
When the city was in the early days of industrialization, Youngstown's wealthiest moved away from the city's downtown and more to the north, away from the mills and businesses. Wick Avenue became Youngstown's version of Euclid Avenue (Cleveland's Millionaire's Row) or Fifth Avenue in New York City, home to Youngstown's most powerful, old money families. Today, some of these mansions still exist, but are not used for residential purposes. Youngstown State University, whose campus is just south of Wick Park, bought some of the mansions on Wick Avenue, while one exists as a museum (The Arms Museum of Local History). Another mansion of note, the Wick-Pollock, was expanded and turned into a hotel in the late 1980s, only to close around 1998. Now owned by the university, it currently rests unused. For much of the last century, upper-Wick Avenue was also the site of the majority of new car dealerships in the Steel Valley; today, all new car dealerships are scattered throughout the area's suburban strips.
Another street of note is Fifth Avenue, which also featured many large homes lived in by the area's elite. Many of these homes are still intact today, and just as beautiful as ever (especially in the upper-portion of the boulevard, near Gypsy Lane, in the North Heights Neighborhood). Opposite Wick Park on Fifth Avenue is Stambaugh Auditorium with its classical design and large columns. Both are located a short walk away from the university and St. Elizabeth's Hospital. Nearby are also many local churches, the Northside Medical Center, and the Jewish Community Center.
Wick Park, the municipal park itself, is named for its donor, James Wick, a Youngstown resident and industrialist. It occupies a good portion of the Wick Park neighborhood, and is still well kept, although it is not nearly as popular as the Metroparks' Mill Creek Park, which is the second largest metropolitan park in the United States behind New York City's Central Park.
