Hillcrest Park

Hillcrest Park is Fullerton's largest and most historically significant park, covering 35.6 hilly acres near the city center. The city bought the land in 1920, and park superintendent Johann George Seupelt, a Bavarian-born horticulturist and landscape architect, drew up the plans. Roads and trails were laid out by mule team and plow in 1923-24, and the park was dedicated in May 1924. Between 1931 and 1941, relief workers funded by programs such as the RFC, CWA, SERA and WPA built much of its character by hand, using flagstone for stairs, walls, benches, barbecues, a bridge and a 1936 electric fountain. The park also holds the city's first reservoir, built in 1922, plus picnic areas, a turf bowl and a recreation center built as an American Legion post. It retains its original design intent, vistas and circulation, and it was designated a local landmark in 1980. The nominated area is the original acreage.