TrailOff is a new, cutting-edge app featuring 10 original audio dramas, totally free-to-download, that unfold on  Circuit Trails across the Philadelphia region. This audio storytelling app puts YOU in the center of the drama! Get out onto a trail and let a 360° world swirl around you. Literally step into the shoes of characters as they run from monsters, uncover clues to mysteries or adventure into unknown secrets from the past in stories synced to you in real-time!

Created by Swim Pony and the PA Environmental Council (PEC), this FREE project aims to diversify the stories we imagine when we think about nature. TrailOff uses your phone’s technology to transport you into an augmented reality world that syncs to your movements as you walk a trail. Each story is uniquely crafted for its site, written by incredible local authors who will explore the way you think about
taking a walk outside. This is NOT your grandma’s nature trail!

This structured 1-mile walk will follow the new Afrofuturist audio drama Chronicles Of Asylum by Philadelphia author and artist Li Sumpter of MythMediaStudios, available for free download through TrailOff:

Set in future Philadelphia circa 2045 on the eve of a major cosmic event, Chronicles of Asylum follows savvy young journalist Liliquoi Brown as she investigates an otherworldly urban myth in hopes of finding two missing visitors to a refugee camp on the Schuylkill River. Exploring survival and sacrifice, home and exile, humanity’s fate and hope for the future, Chronicles follows the path of this unexpected trailblazer.

The story walk will take approximately one hour but can accommodate participants moving at a slower pace.

How To Use

To use TrailOff download the app to your phone, explore the 10 stories, and pick a trail you want to try. In the app, you can download a story and get directions to the trail by car or public transport. Once you arrive hit “Begin” and start walking! During your story, follow the path and directions from the app. If you accidentally stray from the path, a sound will let you know you’ve gone off route. The story will follow YOUR pace, so take as long as you like to explore. If you need to leave, you can always return and pick up where you left off.

After finishing a trail, you’ll even get some bonus features to keep you busy on the walk back!

TrailOff Guided AfroFuturist Story Walk at Bartram’s Garden

You can try a guided TrailOff Walk at Bartram’s Garden during our first Family Outdoor Movie Night of the summer on Friday, June 24, 6-7 pm. This structured 1-mile walk will follow the new Afrofuturist audio drama Chronicles Of Asylum by Philadelphia author and artist Li Sumpter of MythMediaStudios, available for free download now.

   Set in future Philadelphia circa 2045 on the eve of a major cosmic event, Chronicles of 

                                                    Asylum follows savvy young journalist Liliquoi Brown as she investigates an otherworldly

urban myth in hopes of finding two missing visitors to a refugee camp on the Schuylkill River.

Exploring survival and sacrifice, home and exile, humanity’s fate and hope for the future,

                                                    Chronicles follows the path of this unexpected trailblazer.

The story walk will take approximately one hour but can accommodate participants moving at a slower pace, and will finish with a Q&A with the author. Register for this event here.

To learn more about TrailOff, visit its website.

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Aqua Marooned! is a card game created by Philly-based immersive experience company Swim Pony that encourages humor and emotional connection with the flora and fauna of the Lenapehoking region. Bartram’s Garden is one of 20 different regional environmental centers where it premiered at this spring; each location is connected to the Alliance for Watershed Education of the Delaware River (AWE) and has its own unique, location-specific card deck.

How to Play

Though Aqua Marooned! takes inspiration from traditional party games like Apples to Apples and Cards Against Humanity, this card game isn’t one meant to be played sitting at a table indoors.  The game’s beautifully-illustrated cards cast players in groups of three or more as extraterrestrial explorers sent to explore earth’s mysterious “watersphere”, i.e. at your participating AWE nature center, park, or wildlife refuge.

Using vibrant pictures of plants, animals, and the environment, players are sent on a “mission” that playfully invites players to call on their powers of observation, inventiveness, or wit. Card challenges include things that ask players to get creative (Find a dead thing and give it a heartfelt eulogy. Most heartfelt wins.), use their bodies (Race to the nearest body of water), and reflect on the natural world (Define what “nature” is and is not). Though suitable for ages 12 and up, the game is aimed specifically at teens and adults.

Aqua Marooned!’s cards are designed especially for the 23 Centers in the AWE Alliance but can also be played anywhere one finds the outdoors. In addition to the core deck of cards, 20 participating AWE sites have developed expansion decks featuring additional missions that can be folded into the basic game with content unique to their sites. Swim Pony has also developed a super-sized Lenape expansion deck, created in collaboration with a circle of local Lenape advisors, to give players an opportunity to delve into the Indigenous perspectives on the land as well. For more information about where to find the game or the outreach events programmed for this fall visit the Lenapehoking~Watershed website, Facebook, or  Instagram for dates, times, and locations.

Aqua Marooned! at Bartram’s Garden

Visit the Garden’s Welcome Center, open every day 9AM-4PM, to grab your FREE Bartram’s Garden Aqua Marooned! deck and start your journey. Swim Pony will also be at the first 2022 Family Outdoor Movie Night at the Garden on Friday, June 24, 2022, with decks and more information about the game.

Aqua Marooned! was conceived by Adrienne Mackey, founder and artistic director of Swim Pony, an experience design company that develops innovative, immersive experiences of play. During the course of its three-year development, the company collaborated with illustrator/graphic designers Meg Lemieur and Bri Barton, co-writer Brad Wrenn, representatives from 19 different AWE Centers, and a Lenni-Lenape Advisory Circle led by Trinity Norwood, Project Advisor for the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation. 

More about Lenapehoking~Watershed Art Project: The L~W Art Project is a wide-ranging, multifaceted art project that wants to introduce Lenapehoking residents to their watershed. A program of the Alliance for Watershed Education of the Delaware River (AWE), this initiative winds its way through the landscapes and waterways of the Delaware River Watershed in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Aqua Marooned! is one of two innovative and completely unique artist-driven projects activating the AWE environmental education centers as part of Lenapehoking~Watershed. The other is Water Spirit, a series of plant-based sculptures by Sarah Kavage that serve as focal points for events and community gatherings. The name, “Lenapehoking~Watershed, a place for water, art and culture” was chosen after consulting with citizens of our local Lenni Lenape Nations. “Lenapehoking” is a place name that means “the land of the Lenape people.” Foremost, as this is an initiative about the land and the water, the L~W team acknowledges Indigenous cultures’ environmental stewardship as critical. Lenapehoking~Watershed offers multiple opportunities for inspiration, refreshment, and learning. Encouraging others to discover new things, meet new people at outdoor cultural gatherings, and enjoy solitary meditations on art and nature.

Lead support for the Lenapehoking~Watershed is provided by the William Penn Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Barra Foundation, the Delaware Division for the Arts, the Joseph Robert Foundation, and the Velocity Fund. 

About Alliance for Watershed Education: The Alliance for Watershed Education of the Delaware River is a regional initiative of twenty-three partnering environmental education centers that is funded and supported by the William Penn Foundation. Each of these centers is located along the Circuit Trail or a major connecting trail, and on waterways throughout the Delaware River Watershed in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Through joint programming like the annual River Days events, and shared best practices, the centers aim to increase their collective impact within the watershed and its communities. 

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Remains of Bartram’s Wharf, ca.1840s

Says Joel, “Those timbers are the remains of a wharf—most likely a steamboat wharf constructed around 1840, during the Carr generation at the Garden. That shows up as ‘Carr’s Wharf’ on maps of the 1840s and 1850s. There used to be more preserved timber, probably two or three additional layers of timber, and great deal of inner-gravel fill has washed away in recent years.”

Another part of the story is about a boathouse. Joel continues, “Around 1890, just before the park at Bartram’s Garden was first opened, a public boathouse was built adjacent to that wharf. The City of Philadelphia leased public-rental boathouses at various locations along the Schuylkill. One was built at Bartram’s Garden, and we have two of three photos showing part of the building. It operated renting out small rowboats for a year or two, but then the business seems to have folded. Probably the river was too polluted and/or there were not enough customers to make it a successful business. The boathouse was demolished sometime after 1900 and there is no trace of the building now.”

“There was probably a long history of wharfs on the Bartram property, but there is very little hard data to document when, or where they were built. There was considerable fishing for shad in front of the garden, but how that operated we don’t know—from boats, from nets or perhaps lines from the shore There are lots of wood posts and pilings along the whole river front, and some stone features, which might be other docks or wharves. No one has systematically studied the tidal riverfront, or mapped the pilings and timbers.”

“The vintage photo at the top of the page is from the Spring of 1892. It shows the wharf and then-new boathouse that was built immediately adjacent.”

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Bartram’s Garden hosts the ribbon-cutting of the new 1.1 mile Bartram’s Mile Trail, a new segment of the Circuit Trails that expands the Schuylkill River Trail to connect Southwest Philadelphia to the City’s parks and the Schuylkill River.

This project was made possible through support from the William Penn Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Lenfest Foundation, The McLean Contributionship, NOAA Coastal Zone Management Program, PennDOT, the City of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, Philadelphia Commerce Department, Philadelphia Water Department, and Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell.

WHEN:

Saturday, April 22, 2017

11:00am to 12:00pm

WHERE:

The new Bandstand at Bartram’s Garden

56th Street and Lindbergh Boulevard

Philadelphia, PA 19143

PROGRAM:

11:00am to 11:55am

Ribbon-cutting ceremony with the following (in order speaking):

·         Kathryn Ott Lovell, Commissioner of Parks and Recreation, City of Philadelphia

·         Mayor Jim Kenney, City of Philadelphia

·         Michael DiBerardinis, Managing Director, City of Philadelphia

·         Janet Haas, M.D., Chair of The William Penn Foundation

·         Sam Gill, Senior Adviser to the Pres. & VP/Learning & Impact, Knight Foundation

·         Senator Anthony H. Williams, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

·         Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, City of Philadelphia

·         Commissioner Debra McCarty, Philadelphia Water Department

·         Representative Joanna McClinton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

·         Maitreyi Roy, Executive Director, Bartram’s Garden

·         Freeway, Recording Artist and Community Health Advocate

11:55am to 12:00pm

Official ribbon cutting and photo opportunity

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Hello All,

Over the winter, we’ve broken ground on some new and exciting projects. There’s a “bandstand” at 56th Street by the river, and we’re especially thrilled that the Bartram’s Mile Trail is now complete. The ribbon-cutting will occur at our Open House and Spring Plant Sale on April 22.

We are moving our weddings to a new events tent at Eastwick Hill this summer, reducing wear on our historic buildings and ensuring that our visitors can enjoy the Garden at all times. We have temporarily removed our picnic pavilion, which will be restored and relocated to another spot in the Garden.

We know that the picnic pavilion has been a popular spot for gatherings and celebrations and we are committed to having that space available for our community. In the next few months, as we continue with our transformation, you’ll see more developments:

• For families and other groups, we will create a new picnic area at the foot of Eastwick Hill with a shady area that has lovely view of the river.

• We will also add more picnic tables in the North Meadow and by the Business Office for casual gatherings and groups.

As we start off the new season and look to another year of tremendous growth in the Garden, we hope you’re as excited about these changes as we are, and that you’ll see some of them for yourself at the Open House and Spring Plant Sale!

Warmly,

Maitreyi Roy
Executive Director,
Bartram’s Garden

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“Bliss described walking Feb. 22, 1884 from the Blockley Hospital (roughly the modern UPenn hospital complex), down the Darby Road and past Gray’s Ferry. The Episcopal Theological Seminary that Bliss mentions was between 50th and 51st along the east side of Woodland in the 1880s. So the ‘long lane‘ he and his companion ‘V’ [another resident doctor in the hospital] turned down towards the river might very likely have been either the Bartram/Carr/Eastwick entry lane or Hay/Gibson lane (partially preserved in modern Vodges Street).

“Looking across the river, he says he could see the refineries (Point Breeze) and two huge grain elevators (Girard Point), and then across the south Philadelphia marshes to see ships on the Delaware. He then walked back, ‘going down a railroad track towards the City’ – that was probably the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore. The ‘handsome mansion, built in English-manor style‘ on a knoll above the river might then have been the Eastwick house—if he was walking along the railroad bed, Bartram Hall would have been on the right—but that probably means he walked down Hay Lane/Gibson Lane to the river, so below 56th Street. The mansion with windows closed and boarded up, and many places plastering fallen from the walls, sounds like the Eastwick House in 1884.

“Interesting he says there was a large sign facing the railroad ‘which threatened all the law’s penalties upon anyone who ventured within the high, briar-covered stone wall enclosing the estate.’ That very much sounds like the Eastwick estate, and several similar accounts from the 1880s say there were no trespassing signs all over the estate, but people were always sneaking in. Andrew Eastwick died in 1879, so the estate had only been abandoned for five years in 1884—so quite an exaggeration on the decay and neglect.”

“Even when the Bartram Park was opened in 1891, the rest of the surrounding Eastwick estate was fenced off with no trespassing sign to keep people out of the vicinity of the Eastwick mansion.”

———————————————————————-

Top Image: James Fuller Queen (1820/1821–1886) painted Grays Ferry Looking South in 1858 depicting steamboats and barges on the Schuylkill River, with a marsh in the foreground. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

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Observant visitors to Bartram’s Garden who meander down to the riverfront will notice a rock face etched with carvings. While most of the marks are modern, there are several historical etchings worth pointing out: closer to ground (above three feet above it) are several marks recording tidal high points of the Schuylkill River: “TIDE 1784,” “TIDE 17— [last 2 digits eroded away],” and “TIDE IN 1850.”

These markings (the author of which is unknown) were likely intended to identify exceptionally high tide levels, and they tell us (even today) that it takes an extraordinary amount of water to raise the lower Schuylkill level any degree. Most likely these floods were either in the spring-thaw period—perhaps March—or in late summer during tropical storms. Tropical storms seem more likely, as a tidal surge up the Delaware Bay will also raise the water level of the lower Schuylkill.

Says Bartram’s Garden curator Joel Fry: “I’ve never seen a storm here create flooding that reaches any of these marks, but  within the last five years, there have been a couple of storms where the lower ground along the river did flood. The water was either just beneath the boardwalk area there, almost reaching the rock face, or one storm the water was actually just over the top of the boardwalk. Because of the great width of the lower Schuylkill valley, it takes a great deal of water to raise much of a flood—and most of South Philadelphia (which would flood almost entirely before the water got very high here) on the east bank is lower than our west bank.”

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Bartram’s Garden is a place where people of all ages can access one of Philly’s greatest natural resources, the Tidal Schuylkill River (the lower section of the river, south of the Water Works). Whether you’re never been on the river or are an active boater, there are many ways to explore Philly’s “Hidden River” here at Bartram’s Garden.

Enjoy free kayak and rowboat rides every Saturday from our new Community Boathouse; cruise the Schuylkill aboard Patriot Harbor Lines; and have a grand time at our annual Riverfest & Tidal Schuylkill Boat Parade each June.

Click here to learn more!

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The 2nd annual RiverFest & Tidal Schuylkill River Boat Parade will take place this year on June 14. Expect free canoe and kayak rides, music, and lots of fun for the whole family! And starting June 20, we’ll be offering free public paddling sessions on the Schuylkill every Saturday through September, from 11 am to 3 pm. All ages and paddling skills are welcome! Kayaks, rowboats and lifejackets will be available for 30 minute paddles – first-come, first served – in the quiet and scenic stretch of the river off the Bartram boat dock. If you’ve never paddled before, our boathouse crew will be on-hand to offer instruction and safety tips.

In addition to Saturday public paddles, the boathouse will offer monthly member paddles and occasional special paddling trips, including evening sunset paddles and themed tours of this unique stretch of river. Stay tuned for more exciting developments along our stretch of the lower Schuylkill River in 2015!

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Our boat dock will be buzzing with activity this spring, summer, and fall with free canoe and kayak rides, chartered cruises with Patriot Harbor Lines, a floating ice cream parlor festooned with a brass band, and the colorful Tidal Schuylkill Boat parade. The river also served an outdoor classroom for children in our new after-school program and summer camp. Plans are in the works to expand our public access hours and develop even more fun, new programs focused on our branch of Philly’s “hidden river” in 2015.

Following a major restoration and replanting recently, the tidal wetlands located on the southern end of Bartram’s Garden is now flourishing with native species and providing an expanded habitat for wildlife. The only one of its kind on the Lower Schuylkill, the wetlands serve several important functions and improve the health of our ecosystem by protecting water quality, storing floodwaters, and providing breeding grounds for a variety of species. Look for green herons, redwing blackbirds, sandpipers, kingfisher, and other migratory birds standing among the cattails the next time you visit!

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