In 1888, the City of Trenton bought 80 acres originally outside its borders for its first city park and named it for its Colonial chief burgess, Thomas Cadwalader. Designed between 1890 and 1892 by the firm of Frederick Law Olmsted, in New Jersey's only park planned by Olmsted Senior, its first plantings were completed in 1891. Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., with Calvert Vaux, had designed Central Park of New York City in 1858 and went on to design numerous parks across the country. The Delaware & Raritan Canal was built for transportation purposes in 1834 and was abandoned 99 years later because of competition from railroads and trucking. The D&R Feeder Canal is a recreational park and trail operated by the State of New Jersey. Within the park are Ellarslie, an 1848 Italianate villa designed by Philadelphia architect John Notman, originally built as a private home and now home to the Trenton City Museum; the Cottage, built circa 1860 and now used as administrative offices for the City of Trenton Division of Natural Resources; a statue dedicated in 1908 honoring Trenton industrialist and Brooklyn Bridge designer John A. Roebling; the Soldiers and Sailors Civil War Monument, dedicated in 1909; and the Civil War cannon Swamp Angel, moved to the park in 1961.
