Clark Park

Clark Park — a Civil War hospital, a forbidden statue, and West Philadelphia’s living room

Nine acres in University City that carry more history than their size suggests and are used harder than almost any park in Philadelphia. A grassy hollow known as the Bowl, left over from a mill pond, hosts free Shakespeare every summer. A boulder hauled from the Gettysburg battlefield marks the site of one of the great Union Army hospitals of the Civil War. And in one corner sits a bronze Charles Dickens — a statue that exists in defiance of the writer’s own will, which asked that no monument to him ever be raised. Around all of it: a farmers market, chess players, dogs, students and one of the most reliably social pieces of public ground in the city.

Highlights

• The Dickens and Little Nell statue — Francis Edwin Elwell’s bronze of the seated author with the child from The Old Curiosity Shop at his feet, commissioned in 1890 by the publisher Stilson Hutchins, decorated at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, bought by the Fairmount Park Art Association in 1900 and installed here in 1901.
• The Bowl — a grass amphitheater that is the drained hollow of a mill pond once fed by Mill Creek, now the natural stage for outdoor theater and the park’s best sledding run.
• The Gettysburg Stone — a boulder brought from the Devil’s Den area of the Gettysburg battlefield and dedicated in June 1916 to commemorate Satterlee General Hospital, which stood on and around this ground during the Civil War.
• Chess Corner — an established open-air chess scene that runs in all but the worst weather and welcomes anyone willing to sit down and lose.
• The farmers market — established in 1998 and run by The Food Trust, one of the largest in the city, with produce, meat, bread and prepared food.
• Shakespeare in Clark Park — a company that has staged free outdoor productions in the Bowl each summer since the mid-2000s, drawing audiences that spread across the whole slope.

What you’ll find

The park is split into two sections by a street, and each has its own personality: one holds the Bowl, the monuments and the big open grass; the other holds playgrounds and the busiest market ground. Together they function as the neighborhood’s shared front room.

• The Bowl and its surrounding slopes, used for theater, picnics, games and sledding.
• The Dickens statue and the Gettysburg Stone, the park’s two permanent monuments.
• Playgrounds and play equipment for a range of ages.
• Chess tables and the informal seating around them.
• Mature shade trees over open lawn, and paths worn by decades of daily use.
• Market stalls, community events and a flea market operating on set days.

Things to do — and who it’s for

• Literature readers — a statue of Dickens is a rare object anywhere in the world, because his will forbade one, and this is the one that got made.
• Families — playgrounds, open grass and a market where children are fed without a restaurant being involved.
• Chess players — a genuine standing game, not a photo opportunity; bring a clock if you are serious.
• Theatergoers — free Shakespeare in the Bowl each summer, performed to a crowd sitting on the grass.
• Dog owners — one of the strongest dog communities in West Philadelphia gathers here morning and evening.
• Students and locals — the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel are a short walk away, and the park is where the neighborhood stops being a campus.

Getting there & practical

The park sits in the Spruce Hill section of University City in West Philadelphia. SEPTA’s subway–surface trolleys are the natural way in: the Baltimore Avenue line and the Chester Avenue line both surface at the 40th Street portal and run past the park, carrying the older route numbers 34 and 13 as well as their newer T-line designations. The Market–Frankford Line and several bus routes serve University City a short walk north. Street parking exists in the surrounding blocks but is tight on market days. Entry to the park is free, as is the outdoor theater and the chess; the farmers market and the flea market are of course commercial, and nothing else charges. The park keeps standard Philadelphia Parks and Recreation hours from early morning until late evening. An hour covers a relaxed visit, more if you come on a market or performance day.

When to visit

Spring brings the park back to full use, with the market expanding, the trees coming into leaf over the Bowl and the neighborhood spilling outdoors after a gray Philadelphia winter. Summer is the loudest and best season — free Shakespeare in the Bowl, evening picnics, the market at its fullest and the mature canopy giving genuine shade on hot afternoons. Autumn is the most comfortable: the market peaks with the harvest, festivals fill the grass, and the slopes turn over the Bowl. Winter clears the crowds, the Dickens statue and the Gettysburg Stone read starkly against bare trees, and after any real snowfall the Bowl becomes the sledding hill for half of West Philadelphia within the hour.

Good to know

Before there was a park there was Mill Creek, and a mill pond in the hollow that is now the Bowl; the creek was buried and the pond drained as the neighborhood was built out. During the Civil War this ground held Satterlee General Hospital, opened in 1862 and among the largest Union Army hospitals of the war, through which tens of thousands of sick and wounded soldiers passed before it closed in 1865. In June 1916 a boulder from the Devil’s Den area of the Gettysburg battlefield was dedicated in the park to commemorate it. The parkland itself was given to the city in 1895 by Clarence Howard Clark (1833–1906), the banker and developer whose money built much of Spruce Hill, and it carries his name. The Dickens statue arrived in 1901: Francis Edwin Elwell had modeled it in 1890 on a commission from the Washington publisher Stilson Hutchins, it was honored at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, and the Fairmount Park Art Association bought it in 1900. Its rarity is the point — Dickens’s will explicitly asked that no monument be erected to him, so full-length statues of him are very few worldwide; a companion cast stands in Sydney, and a further statue was unveiled in his birthplace of Portsmouth in 2014. Philadelphia marks his birthday in the park every February. The farmers market was established in 1998 and is run by The Food Trust.

Visitor tips

• Come on a market morning if you want the park at its most characteristic — it is the one time the whole neighborhood is in the same place.
• Check the Shakespeare company’s summer schedule before planning an evening. The performances are free, popular, and worth arriving early for a spot on the slope.
• Bring a board and a clock to Chess Corner rather than expecting spare equipment. The players are welcoming but the game is real.

Questions & answers

Why is a statue of Dickens rare? Because his will explicitly asked that no monument be raised to him. Very few full-length statues of him exist anywhere; this one was made in 1890 by Francis Edwin Elwell and installed in Clark Park in 1901.

Who is the child in the statue? Little Nell, the central character of The Old Curiosity Shop, shown at the seated author’s feet.

What is the Gettysburg Stone? A boulder brought from the Devil’s Den area of the Gettysburg battlefield and dedicated in June 1916 to commemorate Satterlee General Hospital, a major Union Army hospital that stood on this ground during the Civil War.

What is the Bowl? The grassy hollow at the heart of the park, left behind by a mill pond once fed by Mill Creek. It now serves as a natural amphitheater for outdoor theater and as the neighborhood sledding hill.

Is Shakespeare in the park free? Yes. The summer productions in the Bowl are free to attend; audiences sit on the grass, and arriving early gets you a better slope.

When is the farmers market? It runs on set days each week, with the main market on Saturdays, and has operated since 1998 under The Food Trust. Additional market days are added in season.

Who was Clark? Clarence Howard Clark, a banker and developer central to building out the Spruce Hill neighborhood, who gave the land to the city in 1895.

Is it dog-friendly? Very. Clark Park has one of the most active dog communities in West Philadelphia, particularly in the early morning and after work.