Mill Creek Park

Mill Creek Park is a metropolitan park located in Youngstown, Ohio. The Trust for Public Land ranks one part of Mill Creek as the 142nd largest park located within the limits of a US city.Mill Creek MetroParks now stretches from the near west side of Youngstown to the southern borders of the city and neighboring Boardman township. The park "encompasses approximately 4400 acres, 20 mi of drives, and 15 mi of foot trails" as well as a variety of bridges, ponds, streams, well-tended gardens, and waterfalls. If including the total size of the park system, Mill Creek ranks among the largest metropolitan-owned parks within the city limits of any US city.HistoryMill Creek Park was founded in 1891 due to the "untiring efforts of Youngstown attorney Volney Rogers." Rogers secured options on much of the land and was able to purchase large tracts of it. This was no small task given that he was compelled to deal with more than 90 landowners. Once the land was secured, Rogers framed and promoted what he called the "Township Park Improvement Law." Upon the law's passage, Rogers turned over all of the land he had secured for park purposes. Rogers had the area declared a park by the state legislature. It officially opened in 1893.Rogers later enlisted the help of his brother Bruce, who had studied landscape architecture, and Bruce Rogers became the first Mill Creek Park superintendent. Earlier, the project benefited from the contributions of well-known landscape architect Charles Eliot, and Mill Creek Park is regarded as one of his notable works.