A hard-hit nature park’s comeback

Have you ever – feeling hopelessly overwhelmed with school, work or just life in general – headed outside to collect yourself? After a short while of allowing your mind a chance to recharge in the fresh air, perhaps gazing at the clouds or taking a walk, your problems seem far less overwhelming. Or perhaps you can’t sleep, so you turn on some white noise of waves breaking upon a beach, or crack a bedroom window to listen to the crickets and night peepers sing. Soon you’re slipping away into a dream. This all speaks to nature’s ability to sooth us, ground us and give us perspective that nothing else truly can. In Delaware Township, PA, a property exists that has served for generations as a relatively hidden gem for those seeking nature’s soothing embrace.

George W. Childs Park, or as it’s commonly known, Childs Park, may seem unassuming at first, but it’s layered property with much to experience. Natural beauty of all kinds run throughout, as well as over a century of human history in the form of generations of visitors. It’s a park that countless have fond memories of, and when it was closed in 2018 after back-to-back winter storms toppled dozens of massive trees, it was sorely missed. So ravaged was the park by storm damage that a temporary closure stretched into a perpetual one. On top of nature’s blows, vandals tagged the original hand-carved date stone and Brooks Woolen Mill ruins with red spray paint in 2023.

The history of the park dates to 1892, when it was created by George William Childs, of Philadelphia, who made his fortune in the newspaper industry. After his death, his widow Emma gave the then-53-acre park to the state of Pennsylvania in 1912. In 1955, the state expanded the property with an additional 102 adjacent acres, and finally in 1983, Pennsylvania transferred ownership of the land to the National Park Service. The woods on this land are dotted with relics of its past, most notably the stonework foundations of long-gone mills, woven into the park both purposely by design and naturally by the forest itself. The stonework ruins are far more admired in their broken state today than in their original form.

That’s just the literal history though. The dates, names and numbers do little to explain what Childs Park means to the thousands who visit annually... or used to anyway. To most it was a haven of sorts, a destination to bring children, lovers, friends and experience peace, recharge and recenter. To simply sit and watch the falls, or play as a child among the trunks of towering trees. To discover the hospitality of nature.

Nature can indeed heal us, but sometimes it also needs help in healing. In the case of Childs Park, it took six years to be well again. In October, the park officially reopened. During the years of closure, the park’s professional trail crew, contractors and volunteer trail stewards worked in phases to remove enormous toppled trees, restore trails, rebuild bridges and pave trails, allowing easier access to the observation decks; and to carefully remove graffiti from historic stones. This all combines to create a park that feels revitalized rather than simply restored. Now visitors can once again find solace in a place that has served as a mental and spiritual reprieve for over a century.