Take a walk in the park day

Did you know the 30th of March is “take a walk in the park day”? 

Soon after he arrived in 1839 to take up the position of Superintendent of the Port Phillip District, Charles Joseph La Trobe began setting aside from sale large areas of land near the city that he described as being for the public advantage and recreation.

“It is of vital importance to the health of the inhabitants that there should be parks within a distance of the town where they could conveniently take recreation,” he said. 

Here we delve into our collection in celebration of the day. 

Parks or gardens?

A park is defined as a large public garden or area of land used for recreation. In the City of Melbourne there are 565 hectares of open space with each park and garden a reflection of Melbourne’s history.  

You can take a virtual historical tour of eight major gardens in Melbourne’s inner city: the Royal Botanic, Fitzroy, Carlton, Flagstaff, Treasury, Alexandra, Queen Victoria and Birrarung Marr via our online exhibition Gardens of Melbourne below (best viewed on the Google Cultural Institute website.) 
 

Advertising

Advertising that promotes the joys of walking, hiking and getting out in nature as a way to encourage tourism in Victoria can be found within our collection. 
 

Photographs

Some beautiful photographs of people on hikes and exploring the nature of Victoria also appear throughout our collection. 
 

Search terms like "hike" or "park" within our collection for more like these. 

Inspired? Head out for a walk in the park. Check out the Walking Maps website for plenty of options. And if you prefer streets to parks, try our North Melbourne walking tour here.