The Vander Veer Botanical Park is a 33 acres (133,546.4 m²) botanical garden

Botanical garden

A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

 in the Vander Veer Park Historic District

Vander Veer Park Historic District

The Vander Veer Park Historic District is a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Over its area, in 1985 it included 66 contributing buildings, 2 other contributing structures, one contributing site and one contributing object.The historic district...

 of Davenport

Davenport, Iowa

Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...

, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

. It is believed to be one of the first botanical parks west of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

. The park was listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties on August 4, 1993.

Vander Veer Park was established in 1885. The city of Davenport purchased the land for $13,000 ($ in dollars). The park was built on the old Scott County Fairgrounds land and modeled after New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

’s Central Park

Central Park

Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...

. Vander Veer was originally named Central Park. In 1912 the park was renamed after the first secretary of the Davenport Park Board of Commissioners, A.W. Vander Veer.A conservatory, music pavilion, and decorative fountains were added after World War I.