St. Joseph Park and Parkway System - Missouri Department of ...

NPSForm10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Sf JosephTark and Parkway System, Buchanan County, Missouri
SUMMARY
The St. Joseph Park and Parkway System is significant under Criterion A hi the area of
COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT, and Criterion C in the area of
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE. In addition, some contributing resources are significant
under Criterion C in the areas of ARCHITECTURE or ENGINEERING. The district is an
excellent representative of how city-wide park systems affected the physical development of
cities. In St. Joseph, as in many communities, the planning of the park system represented the
first true planning efforts of the city. Any "land planning" prior to this date occurred on a private
basis within small-scale plats or additions. The park system is the first effort of the City of St.
Joseph to plan its development on a large, city-wide scale. Although the initial objective of the
park system was the aesthetic improvement of the city, it [the system] eventually affected the
entire development of the eastern side of St. Joseph. The historic district is also significant as an
example of early twentieth century park and parkway design. The seven examples of the "park"
property type (as defined hi the MPS "Historic Resources of St. Joseph ") differ in their design
treatment, varying from formal elements evocative of Italian garden villa design, to influences of
the American Romantic as well as the City Beautiful movement, to simple, functional outdoor
recreational areas. The parkways are the result of the dissemination of the large scale, twentieth
century "parkway" movement hi the United States, as adapted to a smaller urban context. The
historic district is also a rare instance of a planned park system that was completely implemented
basically as it was designed. Most other cities hi the early twentieth century were only able to
execute a portion of the city-wide plans. The St. Joseph Park and Parkway system is also
noteworthy as the work of master landscape architect George Burnap. Other significant
landscape architects and city planners are associated with the system George E. Kessler and
Charles Mulford Robinson. Finally, the entire connected park and parkway system historic
district is the single most significant representative of the defined historic context "The Jewels of
St. Joseph: The Park and Parkway System, 1910-1943" (see amendment #2 to MPS "Historic
Resources of St. Joseph "). It is one of the most intact historic designed park systems in the state
of Missouri, and has long been recognized nationally as well. The period of significance begins
with initial construction on the first element of the park system Noyes Boulevard. Although
some of the parks in the historic district, such as Krug and Bartlett, were actually owned by the
city prior to this date, they would eventually undergo drastic redesigns in conjunction with the
development of the entire system. Their present day appearances reflect these alterations, which
occurred after 1912. The arbitrary fifty-year rule is used for the end of the period of significance,
although this coincides approximately with the ending of P.W.A. funded work. The last major
period of construction on the park system did not occur within the historic period of significance.
It was funded by the Bode Trust, and occurred in the 1970's.