You are viewing 5 posts with the tag Bartram's Garden
Eight Great December Destinations on the Circuit!
By Katie Harris
While it’s easy to stay bundled and cozy at home this December, there are great things to see all along the Circuit Trails this December!
1. Join clinical herbalist Kelly McCarthy on Sunday, December 13 for a hands-on Herbalists Workshop and Family Artists’ Workshop at Bartram’s Garden! According to the event website, workshop participants will “learn about the medicinal and historic use of bitters and explore the ways they might benefit digestion and overall health.” And the best part? You won’t leave empty handed! Participants will take home two bottles of bitters each. Find more information here: http://bartramsgarden.org/calendar/2015-12-13/
Nearest Circuit Trail: Schuylkill River Trail
2. Further north on the Circuit, the Sigal Museum in Easton, Pennsylvania has plenty going on! On Saturday, December 12, learn about the Battle of the Bulge from WWII Veteran, Morris Metz, who will be joined by two other veterans and will speak about his experience serving under General George Patton. Find more information here: http://sigalmuseum.org/schedule-of-events/
Nearest Circuit Trail: Delaware and Raritan Canal
3. Think Santa is just a land-faring gentleman? Think again! Meet Scuba Santa at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey. It’s not often that you find St. Nick and a hammerhead shark in one place. Don’t miss it! Find more information here: https://www.adventureaquarium.com/What-to-do-in-new-jersey/Daily-Shows-and-Feeds/Meet-Scuba-Santa
Nearest Circuit Trail: Camden GreenWay
4. Families in Mercer County have a great resource in the Tulpehaking Nature Center, right off of the Delaware and Raritan Canal. Various exhibits and events, including a birdhouse building workshop, naturalist-led hikes, and wildlife scavenger hunts, are being held over the month of December. Find more information here: http://mercercountyparks.org/calendar/
Nearest Circuit Trail: Delaware and Raritan Canal
5. Have you ever eaten breakfast, “chowline style,” on a battleship? We didn’t think so. On Saturday, December 12 you’ll get the chance to do just that on the famed Battleship New Jersey in Camden! Hot breakfast will be followed by a tour of the Battleship. Find more information here: http://www.battleshipnewjersey.org/news_events/?startrow=10
Nearest Circuit Trail: Camden GreenWay
6. Make the journey to Valley Forge and take part in the Annual March In of the Continental Army Commemoration on December 19. You’ll learn about General George Washington’s Continental Army’s arrival to Valley Forge in 1777 and the difficulties they faced during their encampment. After a candle-lit walk to the Muhlenberg Brigade huts, where you’ll learn about the encampment from a living continental camp, swing by the Visitor Center for refreshments and 18th century music. For more information, visit http://www.nps.gov/vafo/planyourvisit/march_in.htm
Nearest Circuit Trail: Valley Forge Trail (Joseph Plumb Martin Trail)
7. Did you know that President Obama signed one of Camden artist William Butler’s paintings, “Invincible Promise”? When the president visited Camden in May of this year, he signed the painting to commemorate his visit. See the painting, and new pieces by Butler, during Camden’s Third Thursday Art Crawl on December 17. Butler’s work will be presented at Gallery Eleven One and other art events and showings will happen along the Art Crawl route. Find more information here: http://www.camdenwaterfront.com/calendar.php
Nearest Circuit Trail: Camden GreenWay
8. One would be hard-pressed to find more of a winter wonderland than Cooper River Park’s WinterFest. Lights, treats and ice skating round out this fantastic destination. Can’t make it to WinterFest during the month of December? No problem. The event runs through February 14, 2016. Find more information here: skatewinterfest.com
Nearest Circuit Trail: Cooper River Trail
Whatever and wherever you’re celebrating this year, spend a little time exploring the Circuit Trails!
Photo Courtesy of Camden County Board of Freeholders
Join the Two Rivers Wild Ride!
On Saturday, November 7, join the LandHealth Institute and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, for the Two Rivers Wild Ride urban bike tour. This city-wide tour will examine the ecology of the grittiest parts of the city while experiencing first-hand the state of bicycle connectivity in Southwest Philadelphia.
Three New Schuylkill River Trail Segments Come into Focus
Over the past few days, Philadelphia's Department of Parks and Recreation (PPR) has unveiled information (and provided one guided tour) about the future of three important gaps in the Schuylkill River Trail.
First, on November 1st, the final results of a preliminary engineering study of the Wissahickon Gateway were presented to the public for the first time at the Gustine Rec. Center. PPR, along with their consultants Baker Inc. and Toole Design, have been negotiating with multiple landowners to figure out a way to thread a trail between East Falls and Manayunk (from the trail on Kelly Drive that ends at Ridge Avenue over to the Pencoyd Bridge on Main Street.)
The main success of this effort has been PECO and SEPTA's agreement to move their fence lines to allow an 8-foot trail to weave its way behind SEPTA's Wissahickon Transportation Center and PECO's substation. By building a new bridge over the Wissahickon Creek and directing trail users behind the bus depot, a significant obstacle in the Schuylkill River Trail will be overcome.
Another property owner involved in the trail planning, the Steinberg family, has not reached an understanding with Parks and Recreation. The Steinberg family owns the Duron Paint Store, Restaurant Depot, and Mr. Storage parcels, and have not agreed to allow a trail behind their buildings. That trail, if allowed, would connect with the existing easement behind Bart Blatstein's Movie Theater and Diner complex.
Lacking this section, PPR announced its preference for a sidepath trail along Ridge Avenue and Main Street that will go from the Duron Paint building over to the Pencoyd Bridge. This roadside trail could be constructed by moving the curbline out and using a shoulder that currently exists on the two roads. The downside is that it is next to heavy traffic and crosses seven driveways; the upside is that it is much more feasible in the short term, easier to implement, and less expensive than a riverfront trail. At the public meeting, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia asked PPR to consider it a short term proposal and keep the riverfront option as a long term goal, allowing the possibility that the parcels could be sold and redeveloped in the future. The Bicycle Coalition also asked that the trail be made 12-14 feet wide where possible; a 10-foot path is not wide enough.
The second and third important gaps in the Schuylkill River Trail were made open to the public this past Saturday. This past weekend, Parks and Recreation, PennPraxis, Schuylkill River Development Corp and Bartram's Garden led the first of four civic engagement activities; a bike tour of two parcels lying north and south of Bartram's Garden (Bartram's Mile North and South). Both sites are currently vacant industrial land owned by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC). This was the first time that members of the public were allowed to tour these two parcels and they were fascinating! The tour included a visit to a Streets Department Maintenance Facility that lies in between the old National Heat and Power site and Bartram's Garden. The Streets Department facility is the site of a former garbage reduction plant and is a wonderful representative of Philadelphia's hidden industrial history.
Bartram's Mile North includes both the Streets Dept site and the former National Heat and Power site, a brownfield requiring considerable environmental clean up. The parcel ends at 51st and Botanic Avenue, where the Bartram's Garden property begins on the other side of an active freight railway bridge. The National Heat and Power site is a hodgepodge of foundations and retaining walls and was a popular short dumping site until PIDC put up surrounding fencing. A Community Design Collaborative Infill Philadelphia project has already made a proposal on how to develop the land. This site will ultimately connect to the Gray's Ferry Crescent via a new bike/ped Crossing (using an abandoned truss) that is being planned and designed by Schuylkill River Development Corporation.
Bartram's Mile South, the former Gypsum/Transmontaigne plant, will start where the end of the Bartram's Garden driveway (next to its Community Farm) where it meets 56th Street and will travel along the river to 58th Street. A connection will be needed to link it to the 58th Street Greenway at 58th and Elmwood St.
Parks and Recreation has been negotiating with PIDC for a frontage of at least 50 feet from the river's edge to create two riverfront trails.
PennPraxis has an online survey seeking input on Bartram's Miles North and South. See below for photos from the recent public discussions and tours of these three upcoming connections of The Circuit. Or send your ideas to
Bartram's Mile Emerging
An early goal of closing the gaps of the Schuylkill River Trail in Philadelphia was to create a bikeable route to Bartram's Garden, one of the City's hidden jewels. Tucked into Southwest Philadelphia along the Schuylkill River, Bartram's Garden is a 45-acre National Historic Landmark, operated by the John Bartram Association in cooperation with the City of Philadelphia.
Bartram’s Garden is best known as the home, farm, and garden of John Bartram (1699-1777), a Quaker farmer who became America’s first naturalist botanist and plant explorer.
Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, Bartram's Garden and Schuylkill River Development Corporation are working to transform a mile of underutilized river frontage into two trail segments that will connect Bartram's Garden to the Gray's Ferry Bridge to the north and 58th Street to the south.
The public is invited to attend any one of four upcoming events to visit the area and give ideas on developing these trail segments.
Walking Tour - Sunday, October 28, 2-4pm (meet at Bartram's Garden Trail Head)
Bike Tour - November 3, 1:30-4pm (meet at Bartram's Farm for its Fall Harvest Day)
Dinner Conversation - November 5, 6-8pm (Bartram's Garden)
Design Workshop - November 10, 12-3pm (Bartram's Garden)
RSVP: [email protected] or 215-573-8720 or provide input online www.planphilly.com/bartramsmile
FLYING KITE: Unlocking Our Hidden River
March 13, 2012 - Unlocking Our Hidden River: Revitalization on the Schuylkill (Flying Kite)
