Reverend Horace Bushnell believed prosperity was a civic duty and saw Hartford’s need for spacious ornamental ground during the economic decline of the 1840s. After months of planning, he presented a proposal for a park to Hartford’s Court of Common Council on October 5, 1853. The Council passed a resolution for the park on December 22, 1853, and voters approved it by public ballot on January 5, 1854, establishing Bushnell Park as America’s first public park. After many design efforts over six years, landscape architect Jacob Weidenmann was hired in 1860 to finalize the design. Originally called City Park, it was renamed Bushnell Park by the City Council on February 14, 1876, three days before Bushnell’s death.

Photo: Devry Becker Jones