Point State Park
Point State Park is a Pennsylvania
state park on 36 acres (0.15 km˛) in Downtown
Pittsburgh, Allegheny
County, Pennsylvania,
USA, at the confluence of the Allegheny
and Monongahela
rivers, forming the Ohio
River. Built on land acquired via eminent
domain from industrial enterprises in the
1950s, the park opened in 1974 when construction
was completed on its iconic fountain. Pittsburgh
settled on the current design after rejecting
an alternative plan for a Point Park Civic Center
designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The park also
includes the outlines and remains of two of the
oldest structures in Pittsburgh, Fort
Pitt and Fort
Duquesne. The Fort
Pitt Museum, housed in the Monongahela Bastion
of Fort Pitt, commemorates the French
and Indian War (1754–1763), in which the area
soon to become Pittsburgh was a major battlefield.
Today the park provides recreational space for
workers, visitors, and residents in downtown Pittsburgh
and also acts as the site for major cultural events
in the city, including the Three
Rivers Arts Festival and Three Rivers Regatta.
The park, a registered National Historic Landmark,
is operated by the Pennsylvania Bureau of State
Parks.
