Maplewood Park, also known as Seneca Park West, is a landscaped public park in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, situated between Lake Avenue and the

Genesee River The Genesee River ( ) is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. The river contains several waterfalls in New York at Letchworth State Park and Roch ...

. The park features many trails along the river gorge and the river bank below, scenic views of two waterfalls and a nationally accredited Rose Garden. MaplewoodParkRochesterViewFromNorthwestCorner

MaplewoodParkRochesterViewFromNorthwestCorner

The park was laid out by landscape architect

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...

, who also designed nearby Highland Park,

Genesee Valley Park Genesee Valley Park, originally named "South Park", is located in the south side of Rochester, New York along the shores of the Genesee River. The New York State Barge Canal (the currently in-use portion of the Erie Canal) crosses the Genesee Ri ...

, and Seneca Park, which is now a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

. ''See also:'' It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2003.

''Frederick Douglass'' statue

A statue of former slave and renowned

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

conductor

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

which was located in Maplewood Park was vandalized and torn down over the weekend of July 4, 2020. The site of the present-day park was located along the Underground Railroad where Douglas and

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, – March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. After escaping slavery, Tubman made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including her family and friends, us ...

helped shuttle slaves to freedom. The statue is a replica of statue of Frederick Douglass in Rochester, New York. Removal also occurred on the anniversary of Douglas' famous 1852 anti-slavery speech at this location.

References

External links

* * Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Geography of Rochester, New York Parks in Monroe County, New York Tourist attractions in Rochester, New York Frederick Law Olmsted works National Register of Historic Places in Rochester, New York Underground Railroad in New York (state) {{MonroeCountyNY-NRHP-stub