Lenape Park
Lenape Park is a 450-acre[1][2] wildlife reserve and park that is part of the Rahway River Parkway in Union County, New Jersey. The park is located in four towns: Westfield, Springfield, Kenilworth, and Cranford.
It is linked by a crosswalk to
An approximately 4.5-mile off-road paved pedestrian path stretches eastbound from Mountainside Police Headquarters in Mountainside, through Echo Lake Park in Westfield, Lenape Park in Westfield and Cranford, Black Brook Park in Kenilworth, and ending near 505 North Michigan Avenue in Kenilworth.
The East Coast Greenway traverses the park.[4] The French-Richards Burying Ground, which was established in 1724, abuts the park.[5][6][7]
A small section of woodland trail exists behind Lenape Park pond.[8]
History
In 1921, a group of local citizens alarmed by the rapid industrialization of the area created the Union County Park Commission after referendum to purchase and preserve remaining natural areas.[9]
Mastodon Site
Two
Flood control
The raised terrain of Lenape Park was created mostly in the late 1970s. The park was redesigned by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to respond to requests from neighboring communities to ease the cyclical flooding of the Rahway River to parts of Cranford, Westfield and others. The USACE built a large cement dam to control the flooding on Kenilworth Boulevard. The black-topped earthen berms, which now provide walking paths, extend to Echo Lake Park in the west and Black Brook Park in the east.[14]
While the county's 1970s-era plans for Lenape Park envisioned hiking trails camping facilities, bicycle paths, some have complained about the absence of blazed hiking trails in the refuge given its size.[15][16]
In 2011, studies began to fortify the levee system;[17] a construction worker was killed during a roll-over of his trail-smoothing equipment.[4] The USACE continues to study the flood control options.[18]
Flora and fauna
In 2005, a
See also
- The Rahway River Parkway
- The Rahway River
References
- ^ "Geography". 30 June 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ "Union county begins deer management program". Retrieved January 8, 2015.
- ^ Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed September 21, 2015.
- ^ a b "Construction employee killed in work accident at Lenape Park in Union".
- ^ "French-Richards Burying Ground in Springfield, New Jersey - Find A Grave Cemetery". www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- ^ "DNA Group 1 Theories for surname French". www.frenchfamilyassoc.com. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- ^ "The Westfield Record Press" (PDF). Retrieved August 6, 2018.
- ^ "OpenStreetMap".
- ^ "Elizabeth Through the Ages". Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- ^ 1993 Township of Cranford National Resources Inventory, pg. IV-6.
- ^ "Bones located in artificial lake" (PDF). Retrieved August 29, 2018.
- ^ Location of Union County College campus pond.
- ^ Mastodon tusk unearthed in Cranford is now on display (giving location of find at Lenape Park).
- ^ Geocaching. "Lenape Park - Bunker". Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- ^ "LENAPE PARK". nynjctbotany.org. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- ^ "Westfield leaders and fires" (PDF). Retrieved August 9, 2018.
- ^ "Levee system faces 'potential failure'". 22 November 2011.
- ^ "Civil works army projects" (PDF). Retrieved August 4, 2018.
- ^ "Park species" (PDF). Retrieved December 5, 2012.