Browse Items (146 total)

View of WPI baseball team standing in Institute Park

A section of the report given by the Worcester Parks Commission detailing trees planted in Institute Park in 1894.

View of WPI Baseball Team Portrait in Institute Park

Pond side image of Institute Park, showing the bridge, pathway, and trees

Pathway with people walking between the trees

A family resting by the pond under mature shade trees.

An early photo of the Tower shortly after it was built. Note the benches and metal ladder in the center. At the time parks were thought of as places of enlightenment and self refinement. These man-made ruins, known as “folleys” were designed with no…

The Norse Tower stood at the corner of West and Salisbury street. The lack of tree cover in Institute park helped it tower over the surrounding area. A landmark quite difficult to ignore. While the date of the photograph is unknown, the presence of…

After the Parks and Recreation commission declared the Norse Tower unsafe, a fence was erected around the perimeter. The landmark would remain untouchable for almost 25 years until a restructuring initiative in 1929. That is unless you were one of…

Local historical society director U. Waldo Cutler argues his case for not keeping the Norse Tower. At the time, rumors had all but been confirmed the Norse Tower’s removal and replacement with the Rogers-Kennedy Memorial monument. The town had…