New 20-acre public park opens at Bull Street
June 22, 2021
Yesterday, Mayor Steve Benjamin, City Council members, and the Parks & Recreation Department celebrated the opening of the newly developed Page Ellington Park, a 20-acre public park at Bull Street. The park includes running and walking paths, a dog park, shelters and natural water habitat featuring a two-acre pond. The park also includes the daylighted Smith Branch Creek.
Page Ellington, born in North Carolina, joined University of South Carolina professor Richard T. Greener as a member of the Columbia Board of Health in 1875. Ellington ran for City Council and served as an election manager for Ward 4. His home still stands in the Arsenal Hill community. Ellington’s contemporaries—Black and white— recognized his skill as both a builder and self-taught architect.
In 1910, The State detailed his close partnership with Dr. James W. Babcock thusly: He has assisted Dr. Babcock with all of the new buildings at the State Hospital and it will be observed that the towers all differ in appearance.
