Browse Items (146 total)

Later renamed to the Walker Coal and Ice Company, this company was the only company to commercially operate at Salisbury Pond in Institute Park. Walker Ice Company acquired multiple other local ice companies over the years, and was eventually…

A newspaper article on the three Stephen Salisbury's that were important to Worcester and how they helped to develop it.

The letter Stephen Salisbury III sent to the mayor of Worcester upon gifting the park to the city, as printed in the Worcester Daily Telegram

Painting of Stephen Salisbury III by Frederic Porter Vinton done in 1891

A gathering of visitors to Institute Park enjoying a concert

An image of the Institute Park’s Pine Grove, with its original White Pine Trees which have since disappeared from the Island.

Pond-side view of the park before the growth of canopy cover.

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…

Map location of the once standing Walker Ice Company dwelling at Salisbury Pond, 1896

Hot water was a byproduct of manufacturing at American Steel and Wire which was dumped into Salisbury Pond in the winter of 1899-1900. When the hot water damaged the ice crop at Salisbury Pond, the Walker Ice Company sued for damages.