Beta Park history

Conceptualized in 1850 by Frederick Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture, Bushnell Park was born out of a need for open, green space following the Industrial Revolution.

In 1861, at the age of fifteen, Wood joined a local cavalry regiment to fight with the Confederacy in the Civil War.

Date Founded: December 21, 1865 Founding College: Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) Founders: James Ward Wood, William Nelson Scott, William Archibald Walsh, Stanhope McClellan Scott Practical Founder: Samuel Zenas Ammen Spiritual Founder: Robert Edward Lee

One moonlit night in May 1867, Ammen and a recent initiate, Jo Lane Stern, took a walk to discuss the future of their young fraternity.

Subsequently, Beta chapter was formed March 8, 1868.

Epsilon was also established in 1869 at Emory University in Atlanta by members of Gamma.

Theta (prime) was also established in 1870 at Atlanta’s Oglethorpe University by members of Gamma and Epsilon chapters.

In 1891, the Convention established guidelines for organizing alumni chapters.

In 1893, both Emma Brownlee Kilgore and Fannie Whitenack Libbey sent their registration fees and made early reservations, but when the time came, neither was able to attend.

Emma Brownlee Kilgore was a special guest of the 1897 Madison Convention.

Libbie Brook Gaddis’ speech, “The Silver Link, the Silken Tie,” highlighted the 1912 Evanston Convention.

In 1913, a “Comfort Station” was built as a below grade public restroom on Weybosset Street.

Beginning in 1915, the first Pi Beta Phi Special, a train specifically chartered to transport members to convention, left Chicago with ten cars full of Pi Phis! It became an essential part of subsequent conventions.

In 1918 Libbie Brook Gaddis, Emma Brownlee Kilgore, Inez Smith Soule and Fannie Whitenack Libbey attended the Charlevoix Convention.

H. S. Chatfield, Chairman of the Union County Park Commission, from the Olmsted Brothers July 5, 1921

The first acquisition was a four-acre tract along the Rahway River donated by the Wheatena Company in 1922.

Inez Smith Soule was the only founder present at the 1923 Estes Park Convention.

Libbie Brook Gaddis, Inez Smith Soule and Fannie Whitenack Libbey attended the 1925 Lake of Bays Convention.

Captain Lyman L. Parks was hired in 1926 to supervise a police force of 14 officers whose duties included maintaining order and administering first aid.

Inez Smith Soule, Fannie Whitenack Libbey and Clara Brownlee Hutchinson attended the 1927 Pequot Convention.

Libbie Brook Gaddis, Clara Brownlee Hutchinson, Fannie Whitenack Libbey and Inez Smith Soule attended the 1929 Pasadena Convention.

In 1931, Fannie Whitenack Libbey and Jennie Horne Turnbull were present at the Asbury Park Convention.

Inez Smith Soule attended the 1934 Yellowstone Park Convention.

Inez Smith Soule was 94 years old when the 1940 Pasadena Convention took place, and she sent flowers as a regret of her absence.

The national office returned to Atlanta in 1954, where it would stay for the next 32 years.

Reckord Armory (building named in 1961) after Major General Milton A. Reckord, State of Maryland Adjutant General; this building houses the Intramural Sports Office and is home to the Maryland Student Officials Association

Union County residents voted to change the county’s form of government in 1974.

In 1978, all but the tower was enclosed in a new structure that was used for tourist information and later a police substation.

In 1986, the National Administrative Office finally moved back to Lexington, Virginia where it is still present to this day.

In the fall of 2014, BETA finished the second phase of a project that has roots going back to the 1500’s – the reconstruction of the Portuguese Discovery Monument at Brenton Point State Park in Newport, Rhode Island.

A premiere example of Complete Streets, the project (anticipated to be completed in late 2015) will increase access though the downtown area and improve community activity.

BETA is focusing on improving pedestrian connections between the Rock and other attractions, the Harbor and the downtown district as a part of the Town’s preparation for Plymouth 400, an upcoming year-long celebration of Plymouth’s Anniversary in 2020.