JOHN P. PARKER
COMMUNITY PARK

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

 

Client: John P. Parker Historic Society

Location: Ripley, Ohio

Size: 3 acres

 

Ripley, Ohio, was an important center of the Abolitionist movement and gateway to freedom for many fugitive slaves.  Today it is home to the John P. Parker House, a museum to one of Ripley’s most famous citizens.  Born into slavery, Parker purchased his freedom at 18 in Mobile, Alabama, and moved to Cincinnati before Ripley, where he became a successful  industrialist and inventor. 

 

Parker helped over 600 slaves cross the Ohio River and continue north along the Underground Railroad to freedom.  Often risking his life along with the lives of his family to help fugitive slaves, Parker was one of the most dramatic conductors on the Underground Railroad.

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The Master Plan includes outdoor interpretive exhibits, a community gathering place, original Parker Foundry castings, an archaeological dig, a performance area, and a parking area. Recalling those freed, 600 whispering stones etched with words of hope, sacrifice and dreams are set in a grid on the lawn.

 

History and the geography of Parker’s home and the Village of Ripley inspired the concept plan for an interpretive park adjacent to the John Parker House.  The restored House was completed in 2002 and serves as an educational facility for visitors.