Nay Aug Park has seen a lot of changes over its 130 plus year history. It\u2019s seen zoos, museums, lakes, public works projects, you name it. But the one thing that hasn\u2019t changed however is the dedication to the people of Scranton.<\/p>\n
Established in 1893, Nay Aug Park started off as a two-acre parcel purchased from the Beckett Estate. For city leaders dealing with an expanding city in the midst of the coal craze, a new park made complete sense.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time, there weren\u2019t really public green spaces,” explained Sarah Piccini, the Lackawanna Historical Society assistant director. “You were either wealthy enough to have an estate with grounds around it, or you didn\u2019t and too bad. There wasn\u2019t really a space to go. So, Nay Aug was the first publicly accessible green space at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the next century, two acres became 73, and as Scranton and Northeast Pennsylvania ebbed and flowed, the park was a constant during a time of uncertainty, introducing a series of firsts as time went on.<\/p>\n
Like the Brooks Mine that opened in 1902 as the first coal mine tour in the commonwealth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the first basically attraction in what is today\u2019s Nay Aug Park. Now, the mine itself opened in 1902 for that purpose, put in as a tour mine but in 1938 closed for World War Two,” said volunteer tour guide Mark Izak. “It was re timbered, electrical upgrade in 1953 and closed permanently in 1975.\u201d<\/p>\n
It reopened in 2023 becoming the oldest yet newest coal mine tour in PA.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s our history,” continued Izak. “It\u2019s our heritage. We should, you know, be involved with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rocks from the mine would be the foundation of the first museum in the city, the Everhart Museum. Founded in 1908, it’s been a staple of the park since opening and is still exhibiting natural history, science, and art to this day.<\/p>\n
Over the next century, the park would be host to all sorts of public works projects and additions, the history of which can still be seen today.<\/p>\n
The infamous Scranton Zoo which used to host exotic animals like elephants now is a street cat nonprofit.<\/p>\n
Lake Lincoln, the park\u2019s swimming hole for decades, became the recently renovated pool and pickleball and basketball courts.<\/p>\n
And the green house, Nay Aug Gorge, the pavilions, and more have been host to events, cultural festivals, or simply people who want to take a moment in nature.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have photos of women in their long Victorian dresses doing the same thing you see kids doing in shorts and t shirts today,” said Piccini. “So, it\u2019s neat that you could literally still keep doing the same thing, and it\u2019s important to people. It\u2019s not, you know, a throwback. It\u2019s not a retro thing. It\u2019s still something that\u2019s important and accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nay Aug Park is Scranton\u2019s crown jewel and through the ups and downs of the city, it has stayed the course as a historical, cultural, and activity hub. And even 130 plus years later, at its simplest, it\u2019s still a clean, green space available to everyone. <\/p>\n
Nay Aug is a park that has not only stood the test of time, but improved during it, and another example of one piece of the incredibly tapestry that helps make America amazing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nay Aug Park has seen a lot of changes over its 130 plus year history. It\u2019s seen zoos,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-244560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}