{"nrhp_refnum":"10001069","name":"Fairview Park","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"S side of Old Route 22, approx 1.5 mi E of Delmont","address_restricted":false,"city":"Salem Township","county":"Westmoreland County","state":"PA","lat":40.407721174000045,"lon":-79.5493691445263,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-12-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Fairview Park is a 53-acre rural outdoor recreational site on Old Route 22 in Salem Township, Westmoreland County, about 1.5 miles east of Delmont. It was purchased in December 1945 by the Monongahela Valley Sunday School Association as a recreational retreat for African American churches in southwestern Pennsylvania.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the park is significant under Criterion A for Ethnic Heritage (African American) as a tangible response to Jim Crow segregation, which excluded African Americans from white-owned amusement parks such as Kennywood and West View Park. It is presented as a rare surviving example of an outdoor recreational destination for African Americans, and its period of significance runs from 1945 to 1955.","narrative":"A 53-acre outdoor recreation site in rural Salem Township, Westmoreland County, Fairview Park was bought in December 1945 by the Monongahela Valley Sunday School Association, a coalition of more than forty African American churches. The property had earlier operated as a farm and roadside stop on the William Penn Highway, with a pool, recreation building, and barn. Its founders created it because Kennywood and West View Park barred African Americans from swimming, dancing, and most days of use. Through the late 1940s and 1950s the park hosted picnics, games, and church outings, and members travelled to it by bus from Pittsburgh, Washington, and Monessen. Attendance fell as the larger regional parks desegregated. The site keeps its rural setting, a frame barn, and open fields, and it is regarded as a rare example of a Jim Crow-era African American recreation ground.","period_of_significance":"1945-1955","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still used today for recreation and managed by the Fairview Park Association; the nomination states the park has lost integrity of materials, design, and workmanship.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.39478-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/10001069.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10001069/d8dfae9e2f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10001069/d8dfae9e2f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Generic1139","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairview_Park_(Westmoreland_County,_Pennsylvania).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Generic1139</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairview_Park_(Westmoreland_County,_Pennsylvania).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998039","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairview_Park_(Westmoreland_County,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5430846"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/westmoreland-county/fairview-park-10001069/"}