Property Record
3902 REGENT ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | FRANK W. HOYT PARK AND OWEN PARKWAY |
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| Other Name: | HOYT PARK |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 26969 |
| Location (Address): | 3902 REGENT ST |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | Madison |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1934 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19832012 |
| Historic Use: | park |
| Architectural Style: | NA (unknown or not a building) |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | |
| Architect: | WPA; Ferdinand Kronenberg |
| Other Buildings On Site: | Y |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Frank W Hoyt Park |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 8/17/2018 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 2/16/2018 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' titled Owen Parkway exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the State Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation. Madison Historic Landmark: 10/2/1995. BESIDES THE PARK ITSELF THERE ARE ALSO 16 SEPARATE BUILDINGS (1), STRUCTURES (1), AND OBJECTS (14) LOCATED IN THE PARK, ALL OF WHICH WERE BUILT BY THE CWA AND WPA IN THE 1930'S AND ALL OF WHICH HAVE SEPARATE AHI NUMBERS. THE LOCATION OF THIS PROPERTY IN THE PARCEL BOOK IS 0709-212-1801-6. At the turn of the century, Madison became a city of parks and pleasure drives. But the creation of the city’s park system began even earlier. One important private park developer before 1900 was Edward Owen, a nature lover and professor of French at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the summer of 1892, Owen purchased a fourteen-acre strip of woodland on a "commanding height" between the Catholic Cemetery and Mineral Point Road. Along this strip, he constructed Owen Parkway, with the assistance of John Olin, known as the father of the Madison park system, and Edward Hammersley, a farmer who owned land along the drive. In 1897, Owen donated the parkway to the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association. The original drive ran along what is now Regent Street from its intersection at Speedway Road to Hillcrest Drive and west on Hillcrest to Owen Drive, where it split into routes to Mineral Point Road and University Avenue. It became the first of many parks and pleasure drives on what were then the outskirts of Madison. Owen’s parkway was part of a nationwide movement to create the "City Beautiful" during the Progressive Era. The City Beautiful movement sought to remedy the ills of rapid urbanization and industrialization, not only by beautifying communities, but also by providing an escape from the grime and the hectic pace of urban life, an opportunity to breathe fresh air, and a chance to commune with domesticated nature. The movement gained momentum in 1893, when its core principles were promoted at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In the 1930s, the federally funded Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the subsequent Works Progress Administration (WPA) created Hoyt Park, which also encompassed the older Owen Parkway. The CWA and WPA put unemployed men to work during the Great Depression, building useful public facilities such as parks and schools. In Hoyt Park, they built a gateway designed by local architect Ferdinand Kronenberg, who probably designed the other structures, too. Weiler & Strang designed the new Roys Shelter House structure to the north of the main shelter in 1959. Before the CWA and WPA created this park, it was the site of a sandstone quarry that supplied fine-grained, light-buff stone for many of the city’s early buildings. The WPA used the last of it to build the first shelter house, fireplaces, tables, restroom building, and other structures and objects in the park. The city then closed the quarry and officially designated the land as a park. Hoyt Park encompasses twenty-six acres, wooded with oak and hickory. Follow the winding road to Sunset Point, for a panorama of Lake Mendota and an ideal spot for viewing the setting sun. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |