Mount Storm Park facts for kids
Mount Storm Park is a cool city park in Cincinnati, Ohio. It covers about 59 acres (24 hectares) and sits on the side of a hill. From the park, you can look down over the beautiful Mill Creek Valley. It's a great spot to enjoy nature and learn about history!
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A Look Back: The Bowler Estate
Mount Storm Park used to be the large home of a man named Robert Bonner Bowler in the mid-1800s. He was a successful businessman who sold things like fabric and clothes. He was also once the mayor of a Cincinnati area called Clifton.
The Temple of Love
While traveling in Austria, Mr. Bowler met a famous garden designer named Adolph Strauch. Strauch worked at the beautiful Vienna Imperial Gardens. Bowler invited him to visit his home if he ever came to America.
Guess what? Strauch did visit! He was only supposed to stop for a short time, but he ended up staying to help design Mr. Bowler's estate.
One of the most famous things Strauch designed was the "Temple of Love" in 1845. This beautiful structure is still at Mount Storm Park today! It has white columns in a style called Corinthian. This "temple" was actually built over a water tank. This tank supplied water to Mr. Bowler's 17 greenhouses, gardens, fruit orchards, a waterfall, and even a swan lake where seven black swans swam!
Famous Visitors
Mr. Bowler often had important guests at his estate. One famous visitor was Edward, Prince of Wales, who later became the King of England. The famous writer Charles Dickens also visited the estate.
Changes Over Time
The original Victorian mansion, built in 1846, was torn down in 1917. The area where it stood became a parking lot. Today, besides the "Temple of Love," the only other part of the old Bowler estate that remains is the wine cellar. In 1938, a group called the Clifton Garden Club helped fix up the "Temple of Love" and the gardens around it, bringing back some of their original beauty.
The Mount Storm Shelter
Mount Storm Park also has a stone building called a shelter or pavilion. It was built in 1935 and also offers great views of the Mill Creek valley. The building was designed by a company called Samuel Hannaford & Sons. It has a simple style, which was common for buildings made during the "Depression Modern" time. A company named Holt & Reichard, Inc. built the shelter.
