As featured by the Branch Brook Park Alliance as the official park map
.
Navigate this interactive history map of Newark’s Branch Brook Park. Click on map features to learn about park amenities, recreational spaces, and historic features. Map annotations are paired with explanatory texts and comparative photos of past and present. Beneath each annotation is the Google Maps link that will display directions to that point in the park from wherever you are standing.
All historic images are from the archives of the Essex County Parks Department and Newark Public Library. Browse their digital collections or contact the agency to visit their archives. All descriptions are sourced from the Cultural Landscape Report that documented the park’s history and renovation.
Map created by Myles Zhang
Map texts by Linda Morgan, Curtis Kline, Myles Zhang, Maeher Khosla, and Jack Barron
Contemporary photos by Curtis Kline with Mouli Luo
.
Read More
.
Scenes of Branch Brook Park Past and Present
The park’s change over time becomes visible in this series of past vs. present photo comparisons. The once meticulously landscaped gardens and flowerbeds of the old park mature into the large trees and dense foliage of today. At the same time, many architectural follies and ornamental buildings have decayed to the point that no traces remain of their former existence. Old postcard views date from c.1900, while contemporary views were taken by Curtis Kline in summer 2021.
.
Southern Division Buildings
.
Boat House
Boat House
After original structure fell into decay, the current structure replaced it.
.
Boat House
Boat House
After original structure fell into decay, the current structure replaced it.
.
Lover’s Lane Bridge
Lover’s Lane Bridge
.
Ornamental Arch
Arched bridge looking toward Branch Brook Lake
Foliage now covers the distant view of city buildings on opposite side of park
.
Sand Court
Sand Court near Clifton Avenue
Former Sand Court near Clifton Avenue
.
Bandstand
Branch Brook Park Bandstand
Now the Prudential Concert Grove
.
Southern Division Landscapes
.
Cyprus Tree Promenade
Cyprus tree promenade framed views of Sacred Heart Cathedral
The cathedral is still there, but the cypress trees are long gone.
.
Reservoir
Branch Brook Park’s Reservoir once supplied the entire city with water.
All the remains today is the perimeter wall and bowl-shaped depression in the ground.
.
Flower Garden
Landscaped flower beds
When the gardens became too expensive and costly to maintain, they were replaced with lawn grass.
.
Flower Garden
Landscaped flower beds
Only the staircase and landscaped earth contour remain.
.
Wisteria Walk
Lost Wisteria Walk near Barringer High School
Lost Wisteria Walk near Barringer High School
.
Wisteria Walk
Lost Wisteria Walk near Barringer High School
.
Branch Brook Lake
Octagon Shelter (right) and Barringer High School (left)
.
Middle and Northern Division
.
Police Boats
Boating on the lake
.
Wading Pool
Wading pool for school children
Demolished and now overgrown with algae
.
Rustic Footbridge
Rustic footbridge
Rustic footbridge
.
Field House
Tennis and field house on the great lawn
.
Tiffany Falls
Tiffany Falls along the path of the Second River
The same site today
.
Thank you so much for this treasure trove of information on Historic Branch Brook Park! I live in the Forest Hill Historic District, around the corner from the Park and have collected many of these Historic Postcards. Often, curious as to what the particular scene looks like today. Such a pity that the Ornate Rossiter and Wright-designed Boathouse was demolished for a ‘Boat Storage’ structure. As well as the Glorious Bandstand that stood at the Lake’s Boat Landing. Many of the manicured portions, like the Italian Gardens and the Flower Terrace, as well as the Rustic Bridge connecting to Clark’s Island are missing as well. We should encourage Essex County Parks to initiate fund-raising campaigns for restoring these lost features. As an Olmsted-Designed Park deserves to be compared to its ‘Siblings’, Central Park in NYC and Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Again, thank you for this KEEN Investigative work, which I hope that you can publish so that others can be enlightened!!
Was wondering about Clark’s Island? Thanks so much for this! So interesting!
Thank you, Laura. Clark’s Pond and Island as part of a formal garden predates the public park by a decade. It was built by the Clark family, whose mansion still survives in Forest Hill. The pond was acquired by Olmsted, deepened, and converted to the present-day park. You can read about it here on pages 65-71 of the Cultural Landscape Report.
Thank you so much – not just for your answer but for the care that you have for this subject. My family had lived in Newark for 4 generations and I was born and lived on 2nd St – the park was my playground. I am so glad that history is being told!