Seventeen acres of walking paths, a baseball field, and a playground make up your Marquand Park here in Princeton. The park folds walking paths around a baseball field and welcome attractions for children — a sandbox and a play structure. Imagine it originally as 30 acres (120,000 m2) purchased in 1842 by Princeton University professor Judge Richard Field for his personal estate; he began developing part of that estate as an arboretum.
After his death, the work continued under Susan Brown, who acquired the land in 1871, and later under Princeton University professor Allan Marquand, who acquired the property in 1885. In 1953 the Marquand family gave 17 acres to Princeton borough, and in 1955 a non-profit foundation was created to care for the park. Under the Marquand Park Foundation, over 100 new species and trees of shrubs have been donated or purchased for these grounds.
Look up to the eight trees here that rank among the largest recorded in New Jersey, and notice the dawn redwood, a critically endangered species. Notice the paths, the playground, and the mature trees filling this seventeen-acre park.