Branch Brook Park and the Beautiful Cherry Blossoms 2024 | Newark and Belleville, New Jersey

The New Cherry Blossom Welcome Center

A new Cherry Blossom Welcome Center opened at Branch Brook Park in November 2023. You may learn all about the magnificent cherry blossom trees that grow in the park.

Branch Brook Park has more than 5,000 cherry blossom trees – even more than the famous cherry blossom trees in Washington. DC!

My husband and I visited the park in April 2024.

We were excited to see the new Welcome Center and of course, wanted to admire the beautiful cherry blossoms!

The new center is beautifully decorated with plenty of information about the park.

This is an interesting quote about the Essex County Executive, Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr.

In 2006, Essex County Executive, Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr., working with the Branch Brook Park Alliance, conducted an official count of the cherry blossom trees in Essex County Branch Brook Park. The finding was that only 987 trees remained and that many were in poor and declining health. Determined to restore the park to its glory days and to have more cherry trees than the tidal basin in Washington, DC, DiVincenzo led a campaign to plant more trees and a wider variety than ever before. As of 2023, the collection stands at more than 5,300 blooming cherry blossoms, welcoming thousands of visitors every spring season.

More about Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr later . . .

Branch Brook Park

This park is absolutely beautiful. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.

According to The Brranch Brook Park Alliance:

The New Jersey State Legislature authorized a Newark Park Commission, with a mandate to locate grounds for a municipal park. Frederick Law Olmsted, the famed landscape architect and designer of Central Park in New York, visited Newark and Essex County and recommended a site encompassing what is now Branch Brook Park. Olmsted and his partner, Calvert Vaux, envisioned Branch Brook Park to be a “grand central park” for the City of Newark. They understood that American cities of the 19th century were growing quickly and changing rapidly. The parks they designed embodied their view that all people, regardless of their position in society, were entitled to fresh air, quiet places and the beauty that only nature can provide.

According to The Cultural Landscape Foundation:

The largest park in the Essex County Park System was first envisioned by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. in 1867. In 1895 John Bogart and Nathan F. Barrett created a plan for the park, which was revised by the Olmsted Brothers in 1898. John Charles Olmsted’s plan retained the more elaborate, formal elements of the Bogart and Barrett design around the reservoir to the south, while designing the northern portion into a more naturalistic park.

The 360-acre landscape is defined by the remains of the reservoir, a large lake, several meandering streams, a meadow, pedestrian bridges, and curving paths and roadways. It also supports both active and passive recreation. A formal entrance gateway, the gift of Robert Ballantine in 1898, is located on the east side of the park. Branch Brook Lake includes the octagonal Meeker Mound Pavilion, designed by Carrère and Hastings, and a concert area south of the lake that is still in use today.

Surprise Appearance

As we were walking around we noticed an NBC reporter (there was a peacock on her microphone!) doing a live TV interview with Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr.!

I finally tracked down a video of this interview. It was from a show called New York Live.

Further Reading

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