Highland Park

About this property

Highland Park is a historic park in Meridian, Mississippi, United States. Home to a museum honoring Jimmie Rodgers, a Meridian native, the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The park is also home to the Highland Park Dentzel Carousel and Shelter Building, a National Historic Landmark manufactured around 1896 by Gustav Dentzel of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The historic carousel is the only two-row stationary Dentzel menagerie still in existence. The history of Highland Park begins in the late 19th century when the area was used as the Meridian Fair and Livestock Exposition. The organization, which was influenced by World's fairs such as the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and Atlanta's International Cotton Exposition in 1895, was founded in 1904 by big names in Meridian such as Israel Marks, the Threefoot brothers, and the Rothenbergs. They acquired land in west Meridian but never made any plans of what to do with it. When the Fair and Exposition Corporation dissolved in 1906, ownership of the land was transferred to a non-profit trust. After a city Park Association was formed in 1908, the association was tasked with assembling property and developing initial plans for the park. At the time Highland Park was designed, there was a national trend for streetcar pleasure parks, and electric railway companies wanted to increase their operations by owning or investing in these parks. The Meridian Light and Railway Company followed the national trend, building a rail line beginning at 8th Street and following 34th Avenue until it turned west between 19th and 20th Streets and continuing west into Highland Park. The platform for the streetcar line was located in the northeast corner of the park at the main entrance. A promenade connected the platform with a small pool, a carousel house, a large loveseat, a bronze statue honoring Israel Marks, and a gazebo. A sidewalk extended from the promenade to a dance pavilion, and another sidewalk connected the gazebo with a bandstand. South of this group was a lagoon, alligator pond, footbridge, and greenhouse. In the western section of the park, there were two picnic shelters, a small toilet facility, and a terraced amphitheater. The northern part of the park was originally meant for pedestrians while the southern part was reserved for those with horses. A downtown monument honoring Frank M. Zehler, a fireman who died on duty in 1901, was relocated to the park in the 1920s from its original location at the intersection of 23rd Avenue and 4th Street in downtown Meridian. In the 1930s, two swimming pools were built on the site of the former dance pavilion, a one-story commercial building was added in the northwest corner of the park, and an arboretum was added by the amphitheater. The pathways in the park were paved in the 1940s, allowing vehicles to travel through the area. A small fighter jet was located in the park between the pools and the promenade in 1972. Also, a Parks and Recreation office, a museum honoring Jimmie Rodgers, a steam locomotive and caboose, children's playground equipment, and the Frank Cochran Center have been added since. Of the original features, all remain except the dance pavilion and greenhouse.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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