{"nrhp_refnum":"02001657","name":"Onondaga Park","other_names":["Upper and Lower Onadaga Park"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Roberts Ave., Crosett St., Onondaga Ave. and W. Colvin St.;Onondaga and South Ave., and Onondaga St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Syracuse","county":"Onondaga County","state":"NY","lat":43.025260382000056,"lon":-76.16600171084676,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-12-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Onondaga Park is an approximately 86-acre city-owned public park southwest of downtown Syracuse, New York, opened in 1898 and made up of an \"upper\" and a \"lower\" section divided by a steep slope along Onondaga Avenue.","why_significant":"The park is locally significant as an excellent example of park design representing both the Pleasure Ground and Reform Park eras, satisfying Criterion C in landscape architecture. It also meets Criterion A in Community Planning and Development by illustrating patterns of community growth and early city planning, including the trend of creating large parks on the city's edge.","narrative":"Onondaga Park is an approximately 86-acre city park southwest of downtown Syracuse, opened to the public in July 1898 on a site that began as a reservoir. A steep hillside along Onondaga Avenue splits it into the commonly named upper and lower sections, though the park was treated as a single facility. Its original design followed the naturalistic pleasure ground ideal, with curving drives, rustic stone structures, plantings and planned views. Later changes added recreation features typical of early twentieth century reform parks, including Lake Hiawatha, formed in 1911 from the old reservoir, plus playgrounds, a bathhouse and sports areas. The park contains 47 contributing features, among them buildings, structures, sites and objects such as stone bridges, a pergola and a grotto. It was recognized for retaining two distinct modes of park design and for showing how Syracuse planned large parks on its outskirts to serve a growing population. It remains part of the city's only linked open space system.","period_of_significance":"1881-c. 1938","architect_builder":"George E. Kessler, landscape architect; Webster C. Moulton, architect; Thurber J. Gillette, architect; George A. Helmstetter, park engineer","architectural_style":"Other: Arts and Crafts; Other: Rustic; Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a public park for outdoor recreation, sports and music; a firehouse within the park is no longer in use.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:54.154632-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/02001657.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001657/df58345f83-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001657/df58345f83-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Postcard","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Syracuse_1910_onondaga_pk.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Postcard</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Syracuse_1910_onondaga_pk.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75314077","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onondaga_Park","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7094493"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/onondaga-county/onondaga-park-02001657/"}