Two Concord Parks you need to explore
Concord has so many public parks, it is hard not to stumble across one as you explore its neighborhoods. They range from big and landscaped to pocket parks - and they offer everything from ice skating to swimming. But two are the jewels in the green crown - and have ties to the city’s past, as well as the New Deal.
Rollins Park is set off Broadway, and has paved walking trails and a full-sized playground. There are baseball, softball and field hockey fields. Rollins Park has Concord’s largest public swimming pool in the summer months. The gazebo and stone bridge are popular for weddings and events. And in the colder months, there is an ice rink for skating. Edward Warren Rollins donated the wooded space that became the park to the city in memory of his father, Edward Rollins in the early 20th century. In the 1930s, New Deal improvements included a stone wall along Broadway, and a new swimming pool.
White Park covers some 20.17-acres in a polygonal shape surrounded by clapboard homes and the UNH Franklin Pierce Law School. The park is centered on a large pond, with basketball and handball courts, and a baseball diamond. The pond is frozen in winter, transforming into Concord’s outdoor skating rink with new skate house open to the public. A small granite foot bridge is listed in the National Register of Historic Places for being built by Franklin Pierce. The 1883 Black Ice Pond Hockey Championship and Festival is the largest outdoor winter event in New Hampshire. The January event hosts 95 teams and about 700 hockey players. Back Ice, held at White Park, offers a wide array of activities which include interactive games, rock wall, bonfires, live entertainment, fireworks, food trucks and ice and snow sculptures.
The park began with a donation from local philanthropist Armenia White. Charles Elliot did the landscape begin work in the 1890s. Like Rollins Park, the WPA helped to expand the park in the 1930s adding a swimming pool, and filled in a 2nd pond. The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The Monkey Around Playground is a draw for families, as are the walking trials. During the summertime, baseball and basketball are played during the day and at night.
Rollins Park is set off Broadway, and has paved walking trails and a full-sized playground. There are baseball, softball and field hockey fields.
White Park covers some 20.17-acres in a polygonal shape surrounded by clapboard homes and the Franklin Pierce Law School.
