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Show BEADTIFDL FA1RM0UNT . -- ' . . ;,;'."" . ; The Great Park, of Popular Eenown, of . . Whioh Philadelphia is Justly Proud, '. IT 00STAIS8 JSEABLY 3000 A0EE3 Bitorioal,. Well as' Natural, Attractions : Hake it a Place of. Much ; .; alnterest, 'Where are you gmngf" "Oh, I think I shall go out to the park." ). This question and answer can be heard almost every day of the week in Philadelphia. Phila-delphia. When a weary resident of the Quaker city can find nothing else to do lie invariably takes a run over to Fair-mount Fair-mount park. No other American city masses are" given daily from early in July until the end of September. Crossing over the Schuylkill to the West park the most interesting point is "Penn's house." This is a brick residence, resi-dence, bnilt in Philadelphia for William Penn in 1623. It was originally placed on a small street running from Market to Chestnut, above Front, and named Letitia, in honor of Penn's daughter. It was subsequently removed to the park, where it has been preserved with pious care. Not a great distance from Penn's house stands the cottage said to have been occupied by Tom Moore, the poet, during one of his visits to this country. It is on the banks of the river, and it is supposed that Moore while here composed com-posed the poem beginning: r .-. . , Aloiw by the Schuylkill a wanderer roved. And bright were the flowery banks to hia eye; . But far, very for, were the friends he loved. And he eased on the flowery banks with a - .Sigh. ;-. , ; . - ,v . Of the great centennial exhibition buildings only two remain in tho park-Horticultural park-Horticultural hall and Memorial hall. Belmont mansion, which still stands in all its glory, was once the home of Richard Rich-ard Peters, secretary of the board of war during the Revolution. Washington, Washing-ton, Franklin, Rittenhoase, Jefferson and Lafayetto were frequent visitors to the. hospitable bouse. There are any number of other mansions in, the park, each with a history -that would comfortably com-fortably fill a good sized volume. The most romantic spot in all the park is that within sight of Wissahickon creek. One of the first things to attract the visitors' attention is the "Hermit's Well," which tradition says was dug by John Kolpins, a German Pietist, who settled there 200 years ago with a band of forty followers. He lived a hermit's life there waiting for the fulfillment of dreams that remained dreams. He gave names to many of the charming places in the vicinity, among them being "Hermit's "Her-mit's Lane," "Hermit's Glen," "Hermit's Well," "Lovers' Leap," , "Washington's Rock," "Devil'a . Pool" and . "Indian Rock." In going up the Wissahickon one passes through about two miles of rugged scenery, terminating in the open sunlight and beautiful landscapes ot Chestnut Hill.. Within the past few years art has co-operated with nature in making the park a place of beauty and a joy forever.' . . Georqk Barton. . : ENTRANCE TO A PATHWAY.- possesses such a great pleasure ground for the people, and no other is likely to. The park is a vast panorama of picturesque pictur-esque scenery, poetic streams, historio Structures, beautiful ."orks of art, matchless drives, shady nooks, sylvan glens, lovely groves, sparkling fountains and cozy retreats of every imaginable description. de-scription. At the present time the park embraces nearly 8,000 acres. This is the result of steady growth and gradual purchase by the city of Various tracts of land that Were formerly the property of gentlemen of wealth and leisure. The commencement commence-ment of the immense possession was on June 28, 1812, when the city purchased five acres of ground on Morris' bill for $16,666. A water works was constructed here by Frederick Graff, whose memory at the present time is honored by a large bronze bust trarrouhded ' by a Gothic canopy.- The five acres were nicely laid out, and called the Fairmount gardens. In 1828 the area of the park was increased to twenty-eight acres. Still the people Were not satisfied, and when the failure of tne famous United States bank caused the Lemon hill estate to be thrown on . the market it was purchased by the city for $75,000.' "' , This ground included forty-two acres, and had been the country seat of Robert " Morris, the weU laown financier' of the Revolution. The inteOTening ground between be-tween the old Fairmount property and Lemon hill was taken by the city in 1867 under the right of eminent domain. The most important transfer of land . also tookplacein 1867, by which the Lans-downe Lans-downe property, on the west side of the Bchuylkill river, above Girard avenue, was purchased for $85,000. This had been the country seat of Governor John Penn and United States Senator William Bingham. There were 140 acres in the tract, which included the Philadelphia water works and the country seats of Egglesfield, Sweet Brier, Lansdowne and Solitude.' The last named place is now occupied by the zoological gardens. Soon after this a tract of eighty-three acres was presented to the city by Jesse and Rebecca George. The spot was named George's hill in their honor. From the top of the hill one can get a grand bird's eye view of the city, with the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers on the east and west and League island and Tacony on the north and south. The whole area of the park, including the river surface, is placed at 2,740 acres. The beauties of the park seem inexhaustible, inex-haustible, while the many historio spots within its borders furnish food for thought and places for numberless expeditions. ex-peditions. The principal entrance to the park now is from Green street, one of the aristocratic avenues of the city. Within a year or so the Society of the Cincinnati propose to erect an immense statue of Washington at this entrance at a cost of about $500,000. Within sight of the entrance, and in one of the most conspicuous places in the great pleasure grounds, stands a fine statue of Lincoln.' The base is of stone, while the statue proper is of bronze. Ivy creeps up the four sides, entwining itself lovingly about the base of the monument and . giving it quite an air of romance. Just beyond this is Grant's cottage, a small ..- THK LDfCOLN MONUMENT. wooden building that was used by Grant as his he&dquarters while at City Point. Sad to nay, this invaluable historical ctructurv is falling into decay and dilapidation dilap-idation tltrough the carelessness of the municipal authorities. Within a stone's throw of tliis is the handsome monument monu-ment erected as a tribute to the virtues of Morton McMichaeL, one of the most distinornished of Philadelphia's chief magistrates. The Lemon hill tnusio pavilion it) only a square or two from here. It is a most pictnresqtte affair, erected at the expense ex-pense of the city from a conglomeration of Grecian and other plans. It is an amphitheatre, with seats for several taoiaand persons. Concerts for. -the |