PARK (L. Lat. porous). An inclosure. 2 Bla. Com. 38. A pound. Reg. Orig. 166; Cowell. An inclosed chase extending only over a man's own grounds. 13 Car. II. c. 10; Manw. For. Laws; 2 Bla. Com. 38.
Usually smaller than a chase; Encycl. Laws of Engl. (Forest Laws).
A pleasure-ground in or near a city, set apart for the recreation of the public; a piece of ground enclosed for purposes of pleasure, exercise, amusement, or ornament. Perrin v. R. Co., 36 N. Y. 120. A place for the resort of the public for recreation, air, and light ; a place open for everyone. Price v. Plainfield, 40 N. J. L. 613. See Archer v. Salinas City, 93 Cal. 43, 28 Pac. 839, 16 L. R. A. 145.
Public parks may be dedicated to the pub lic like highways; Abbott v. Cottage City, 143 Mass. 521, 10 N. E. 325, 58 Am. Rep. 143 ; Steel v. Portland, 23 Or. 176, 31 Pac. 479; and at common law, upon such dedication, the fee remains in the owners ; Attorney General v. Abbott, 154 Mass. 323, 28 N. E. 346, 13 L. R. A. 251. Non-user by the pub lic, however long continued, will not affect the public right or revest the title in the donor; Chase v. Oshkosh, 81 Wis. 313, 51 N. W. 560, 15 L. R. A. 553, 29 Am. St. Rep. 898. The title is usually vested in municipalities by the legislature ; Brooklyn v. Copeland, 106 N. Y. 496, 13 N. E. 451; Riggs v. Board of Education, 27 Mich. 262; Lincoln v. Bos ton, 148 Mass. 580, 20 N. E. 329, 3 L. R. A. 257, 12 Am. St. Rep. 601; and held by them in trust for the use of the public. The mu nicipality cannot lease them ; Macon v. Huff, 60 Ga. 221; nor can the legislature ; Le Clercq v, Gallipolis, 7 Ohio 218, pt. 1, 28 Am. Dec. 641.
A city may own lands for a public park and cause them to be improved, not in its public capacity as an agency of the govern ment and subject to state control, but as a corporate individual having private rights which the people have a constitutional right to enjoy undisturbed; Thompson v. Moran, 44 Mich. 602, 7 N. W. 180.
The lease of land for a public park is a lease for city purposes; Holder v. Yonkers, 39 App. Div. 1, 56 N. Y. Supp. 912. Taking
land for a park is a public use; Shoemaker v. U. S., 147 U. S. 282, 13 Sup. Ct. 361, 37 L. Ed. 170.
The acquirement of lands for public parks for, children's playgrounds is within the pow er of the municipal authorities ; Law v. San Francisco, 144 Cal. 384, 77 Pac. 1014.
A public park may be crossed by a street railway where such use will not materially interfere with its enjoyment by the public; Philadelphia v. McManes, 175 Pa. 28, 34 Atl. 331; and compensation may not be demanded for the taking; Prince v. Crocker, 166 Mass. 347, 44 N. E. 446, 32 L. R. A. 610; but it is also held that parks dedicated to the public use are not subject to a right of way for a street railway, and that neither the munici pality nor the legislature can divert them for that purpose; Jacksonville v. R. Co., 67 Ill. 540; Booth, St. Ry. L. § 11.
A park or public square may be enclosed, notwithstanding it has remained open many years; Corporation of Seguin v. Ireland, 58 Tex. 183; Langley v. Gallipolis, 2 Ohio St. 107; Guttery v. Glenn, 201 Ill. 275, 66 N. E. 305; contra, Com. v. Bowman, 3 Pa. 206, where it was held that a public square was as much a highway as though it were a street, and that neither the county nor the public could block it up, to the prejudice of the public or an individual. See, also, Springfield R. Co. v. Springfield, 85 Mo. 674.
The city of Boston is not bound to keep the Boston Common in safe condition; Lin coln v. Boston, 148 Mass. 580, 20 N. E. 329, 3 L. R. A. 257, 12 Am. St. Rep. 601; Steele v. Boston, 128 Mass. 584; and is not liable for injuries caused by a horse becoming, while driven along an adjoining street, frightened by the firing of a cannon on the Boston Common under a license ; Lincoln v. Boston, 148 Mass. 580, 20 N. E. 329, 3 L. R. A. 257, 12 Am. St. Rep. 601; but it must con tribute to an assessment for the improvement of streets by which a park is bounded in common with private owners benefited there by ; Scammon v. Chicago, 42 Ill. 192.