As we celebrate Cleveland Metroparks' centennial year, we take a look back as to how far we've come.
For instance, the area now called Wade Oval Park used to be home of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
Founded in 1917, and known to be the oldest park district in Ohio, Cleveland Metroparks was an idea all started by the initiative of a young, self-taught engineer named William Stinchcomb. He had a vision of a connected set of parks, an emerald necklace that wrapped around the city of Cleveland so people could get away from it all.
What William Stinchcomb put on pen and paper over 100 years ago, quickly grew from the original 3 acres in Rocky River to what is more than 23-thousand acres serving 48 diverse communities.
The demand of more land grew bigger over time and by 1907, Cleveland City Council had laid plans to build the Cleveland Museum of Art and decided to move the Zoo from the East Side to the West.
And the Metroparks have been a staple in the community since then.
The green space that we've become accustomed to enjoying was used on Friday to celebrate 100 years of the parks' beauty and evolution.
Happy Birthday Metroparks. Here's to another 100 years...and beyond.