Hello Friday. March 29 2024 With the city’s recent announcement of turning the Lake Monona waterfront near Olin Park into a “must-see” destination, we thought it might be time to dive into another Madison legend.
Enter: John Myers Olin Lawyer, politician, and civic planner | Photo provided by Wisconsin Historical Society The man dubbed as the “Father of Madison’s park system” was the first president of the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association, which was founded in 1894. At the time of the Association’s founding, the City of Madison only had one park. By the end of Olin’s career, the city had 229 acres of parks.
Olin worked with the city to issue the first bonds for the development of the parks. He was also responsible for John Nolen’s involvement in the city’s landscape architecture. Along with his civic work, Olin was also a graduate of UW-Madison Law School + a prominent Madison attorney. You might recognize the Olin House as the current UW-Madison Chancellor’s House.
Parks developed under his leadership: 🌳 Howard Temin Lakeshore Path: The first project of the group — a bridge spanning Willow Creek to connect the new route of land. 🌳 Vilas Zoo: Land donated to the Parks and Pleasure Drive Association from Col. and Mrs. Vilas was designated for the “purposes of a public park” + was named in memory of their son. 🌳 Olin Park: Originally called “Monona Park,” the land was used for the Wisconsin Sunday School Assembly before its purchase in 1912 for a campground. Tenney Park developed from marshland | Photo by @badgersbranchout In 1923, Olin Park was renamed in honor of the man who developed Madison’s parks. When the organization disbanded in 1938, the parks under its control were given to the city.
Today, the Madison Parks Division maintains 270 parks with over 6,000 acres of space for all sorts of outdoor activities. If you’re looking for your sign to get outside, this is it.
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The Salt WIse program — which consists of organizations working together to reduce salt pollution in lakes, streams + drinking water — is hosting several webinars for WI Salt Awareness Week, which kicks off Mon., Jan. 24.
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Editor's Pick: The 608today team worked from Johnson Public House today. We sipped on coffee + Ryan enjoyed the avocado toast while Audrey tried the granola.
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