A Bit of Forest Park History and Facts
Forest Park is a public park that covers 1,371 acres in the heart of St. Louis. It was first opened in 1876. The park hosted both the 1904 World's Fair and the 1904 Summer Olympics. An annual balloon race starts in Forest Park and in the summer you can attend wonderful summer theatre at the Muny.
Here are just a few of the wonderful attractions that you can see at Forest Park.
- St. Louis Zoo
- Science Center
- Art Museum
- Boathouse
- Missouri History Museum
- Jewel Box
- World's Fair Pavilion
In addition you can walk or ride the many trails and paths and in the winter you can enjoy the ice skating rink.
I have many fond memories of Forest Park as a child, as a young Mother bringing my children there and now as a place to bring my grandchildren. It is also one of my favorite place to take photographs and I will share them with you on the rest of this post.
Jewel Box
The Jewel Box is located on 17 acres in the park and was first used as a greenhouse. It has lovely plants, water features and fountains throughout the area and is a great place to take photos. It is popular with visitors and the building can be reserved for weddings. Around Christmas the inside of the building is full of poinsettias, which are quite beautiful.
I visited there with my photo club on a recent spring evening and took the photo above and the beautiful daisies that lines the sides of the pond.
Muny
The Muny is a wonderful outdoor amphitheater that holds 11,000 people. 1500 of the seats are free seats making the theatre accessible to people from all walks of life. Each summer for the past 100 years the Muny has held a variety of different live productions. Some of my favorites over the years include: South Pacific, Oklahoma, The Jersey Boys, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, The Beach Boys, and The Wizard of Oz. I have also enjoyed taking my two oldest granddaughters to the Muny when they have visited during the summer months.
The first photo on this page and the ones below were taken at the entrance area to the Muny.
The Boathouse
The Boathouse in Forest Park is a favorite gathering place of visitors to the park. It is located just across the way from the Muny and is especially a favorite place for theatre goers to have a meal before or after the show. The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating.By the dock is an area where you can rent paddleboats and kayaks to ride around in the great basin. This is a favorite of my granddaughters.
After our photo club outing we met at the outdoor area of the Boathouse to sit by the dock and discuss the photos we took. Here are a couple of the photos that I took from the docks.
Postcards from Forest Park
Here are some postcards I have made from my photos.
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