November 2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number z Page 9 - North North Liberty Park St. Joseph County IN the area is open land, with some wooded area at the north end. Along Jefferson Street, at Mill Street near the northeast corner of the park and at Market Street, at the southeast corner of the property, are paired fieldstone walls forming an entrance at each location. They are similar but not identical. The northern entrance (photo 1) leads into a curved stone wall forming a sort of overlook to the picnic groves below; this feature is not present at the southward entrance (photo 2). A pair of fieldstone posts lies between the two entrances described above, closer to the north entrance, but roughly at the midpoint of the eastern boundary line of the park (top of one is visible at right in photo 3). Just northwest of the entrance posts is a small stone memorial structure (see photos 3,4), affixed to which is a bronze plaque dated 1946, commemorating those who served in World War II. The structure may have been part of the original WPA work; there is an upright pipe with a faucet attached coming up through the concrete at the base. There are three sets of fieldstone steps leading down into the park. One curves down from the north end of the north entrance (photo 1); a second (photos 3,5) curves southwesterly, southwest of the pair of entrance posts, and the third set heads downhill northwest from a little distance northwest of the south entrance. Built into the hillside just northwest of the middle set of steps is a small square building of fieldstone with stone steps on its uphill (east) side leading to its flat roof (photos 3,4,5,6). The north and south elevations each have two window openings, and there are double doors on the west, facing toward the creek. The building was a bandstand but also functioned as a storage shed for tools. A low stone wall (photos 1,6) runs along the bottom of the hill from this building to the north edge of the park. West of the south entrance down the hill is a baseball field that does not appear to be used a great deal (partly visible in photo 1). Its south boundary runs along Market Street. The park once had five fish rearing ponds, and two were located in this general area. Leading northwest from the baseball field is a concrete bridge that will support small vehicles, probably built in the 1950s or later, placed almost over what remains of a dam constructed in the 1930s (photo 7). Much of the dam is still in place, but its iron gates are missing. Directly over the dam is a