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“Onondaga Park was given birth by the 1894 opening of Woodland Reservoir on South Geddes Street, three blocks to the west. Woodland made the area’s old Wilkinson Reservoir obsolete, and in 1898, the 71 acres surrounding the latter was acquired by the city to form Onondaga Park. In 1903, a large, wooded area known as the Olmstead Grove was added, expanding the park and creating a popular picnic area at its southeast corner that is still used today. Wilkinson Reservoir was reconfigured in 1911 and renamed Hiawatha Lake, the landscaped centerpiece of today’s Onondaga Park. The larger part, lying west of Onondaga Avenue, is called Upper Onondaga Park. The reservoir, with rip-rapped stone sides, and adjoining oak and hickory grove was used for swimming and picnicking with little change over the years. John McCarthy, a funeral director, had built - at his own expense - two wooden piers 50 yards apart with a bathhouse at each pier, and a wooden building for guards and attendants.“ Read more about Upper Onondaga Park on The Botanical Observer! (fb)