Highland Park (Pittsburgh)

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Highland Park is both a large municipal park and a racially diverse, mostly residential neighborhood in the northeastern corner of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The neighborhood has 6,749 residents according to the 2000 United States Census. It occupies 748 acres built around the 380-acre park (also called Highland Park), and is bordered by the neighborhoods of East Liberty to the south, Morningside to the west, and the Allegheny River to the north. Unlike much of the rest of the city, the houses in Highland Park are spaced more generously apart. The neighborhood is well-served by public transportation. A few small, locally-owned stores and restaurants can be found on Bryant Street, the central business district..

Highland Park (the public park) encompasses the northern region of the neighborhood. Its main entrance is clearly marked by two bronze sculptures by Giuseppe Moretti atop Ionic columns on each side of the road. Its Stanton Avenue entrance features another Moretti pair of sculptures on grand pedestals, depicting two groups of lean, heroic youths taming wild horses.

The park, which contains two of the city's large water reservoirs, offers picnic groves, a Babbling Brook water feature, Lake Carnegie for fishing, the city's only long-course swimming pool, a volley ball court, tennis courts, walking trails, and playgrounds. The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium are also within the park, as is the Washington Boulevard Bike Track, a half-mile oval loop for bicyclists.

Alexander Negley, who was the first permanent white settler in 1778, owned the land that is now Highland Park. His property was a 300-acre farm on the banks of the Allegheny River, but it was later expanded by his son, Jacob Negley. During the 19th century, Jacob and his descendants sold off portions of the land to farmers. A 140-year-old farmhouse, which has been used as a park office and summer campsite, still stands. The park opened in 1893 after Pittsburgh Director of Public Works, Edward Bigelow, spent more than $900,000 in city funds to buy the land, parcel by parcel, from farmers. The park entrance is designed as a grand Victorian entryway, which included a large fountain with a reflecting pool and formal gardens.