Forest Park, Urban park in St. Louis, US
Forest Park covers 1,326 acres west of Kingshighway, bounded by Skinker, Lindell and Oakland. Its centrepiece is the Grand Basin at the foot of Art Hill, a stepped stone cascade with a tall jet and a broad lower pool, fed by five connected lakes that landscape architect George Kessler created for the 1904 World's Fair.
The Forest Park Act of 1874 established the park and a county-wide property tax to fund it; the city bought the land for $849,058. It was dedicated on June 24, 1876, before about 50,000 people. The 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition reshaped it: landscape architect George Kessler drained western wetlands into five connected lakes, and fair profits paid for the 1913 Jefferson Memorial, now the Missouri History Museum.
The park is home to several major institutions including the Missouri History Museum and the Saint Louis Zoo, which visitors can explore at no cost. These places shape the city's cultural life and invite people of all ages to spend time in the green space.
The park has more than 11 entrance points, and about 60 percent of users enter from Hampton Avenue, where congestion has worsened in recent years; traffic has been redirected from that entrance and trolleys shuttle visitors. The park is bounded by Skinker, Lindell, Kingshighway and Oakland avenues, with additional entrances on Clayton, Forsyth, Tamm and Hampton. About 88 percent of visitors arrive by car.
The grounds surpass the famous Central Park in New York in total size and draw millions of visitors each year. This makes it one of the most-used green spaces in the United States.
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