Balboa Park, originally called City Park, is the nation's largest urban park. In 1835 city leaders placed land in reserve as a common area, making this one of the oldest parks in the US. Renamed Balboa Park in honor of the Spanish explorer Balboa for the Panama-Californian Exposition in 1915, 500,000 people come here every year to enjoy the world class San Diego Zoo, museums, extensive grounds, fine dining and many free activities that it offers. The area also offers horticulturists a wide diversity of plants from a rose garden featuring over 2,500 different roses to the exquisite Japanese Friendship Garden that was also part of the 1915 exposition. The lath house one of the most prominent features on the grounds, houses the tender perennials for gardeners to peruse was again a featured part of the exposition and inspired awe for visitors who for the first time saw banana plants and other exotics growing. Balboa Park for its cultural and historic significance was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It is a must see for visitors to our fair city.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
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