Military Park (Newark)

Military Park is a 6-acre (24,000 m²) city park in downtown Newark, New Jersey. It is a nearly triangular park located between Park Place, Rector Street and Broad Street. From 1667, when the city was planned, until 1869 it was a training ground for soldiers. In 1869 it became the town commons.

The New Jersey Historical Society and the Military Park Building are located across from the park.

Features

In the southwestern part of the park is the colossal Wars of America monument, created by Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore.^[2] The sculpture itself forms the base of a large concrete sword built into the ground. The sword from the ground resembles a large dry fountain and from the air its shape is easily distinguished. The sword is about eighty yards long from the end of the statue to its tip; the blade is over ten feet across at its base. A bust of John F. Kennedy was erected in 1965. The park also has an old drinking fountain with the phrase "My cup runneth over" carved around its base, and statues of Frederick Frelinghuysen and Philip Kearny.

A three-level underground parking garage is beneath the park. A subway station, Military Park Station, lies under the southwest end of the park at Raymond Boulevard and Park Place.

Doane Park

Doane Park is a tenth-acre triangular piece of land north of Military Park, where Broad Street and Park Place veer off and is separated from Military Park by Rector Street. A statue of Monsignor George Hobart Doane, for whom the park is named, was unveiled in 1908. Doane was a rector at St. Patrick's Pro-Cathedral and did much for the city including his work with the Essex County Park Commission.^[3]

Events

• The annual Africa-Newark Festival celebrates African culture.
• Jazz concerts are sometimes performed in Military Park.
• On Thursdays during the fall, a farmers market is held on Park Place.

References