Tenney Park

Designed by O.C. Simonds, founder of the Prairie School of landscape architecture, Madison's first city park emphasizes naturalistic placement of native plant species. Its design created lagoons to symbolize prairie rivers and meadows to symbolize the prairie landscape. The lagoons surround a designed island reached by five bridges. During expansion from 1908 to 1910, Nolen introduced active elements including playing fields, a sand beach, and playgrounds. The park's success triggered an era of park philanthropy, with residents contributing to additional park development.

Madison, Wisconsin · United States