Druid Hill Park is a urban park in northwest Baltimore, Maryland. Its boundaries are marked by Druid Park Drive (north), Swann Drive and Reisterstown Road (west and south), and the Jones Falls Expressway / Interstate 83 (east). Inaugurated in 1860, under the administration of city Mayor Thomas Swann, Druid Hill Park ranks with Central Park (begun in 1858) in New York City, Fairmount Park (1812) in Philadelphia and Golden Gate Park in San Francisco as the oldest landscaped public parks in the United States. History The land was originally part of "Auchentorlie", the estate of Dr George Buchanan (1696–1750), one of the seven commissioners responsible for the 1729 establishment of Baltimore Town, which was laid out by the commissioners the following year. Buchanan's country estate northwest of the town, and on the west bank and overlooking the Jones Falls stream running south to "The Basin" (today's Inner Harbor) of the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River and future Port of Baltimore, included 579 of the that comprise Druid Hill Park today. Renamed "Druid Hill" by Col. Nicholas Rogers, who married Eleanor Buchanan, it was purchased in 1860 by the City of Baltimore from family descendant Lloyd Rogers with municipal funds raised by the revenue derived from a one-cent park tax on the nickel horsecar fares, put through by 19th Mayor Thomas Swann, (1809–1883; served 1856–1860) - (later 33rd Governor of Maryland - served 1866–1869). After its purchase, Druid Hill Park was inaugurated by Swann on October 19, 1860. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Local residents often refer to the park as "Dru Hill" Park, a "Baltimorese" (local dialect) corruption of its given name, itself the inspiration for the name of the popular local R&B group Dru Hill. The park was designed by Howard Daniels, landscape designer retained by the newly created and appointed Board of Park Commissioners, and John H. B. Latrobe, (1803–1891), who designed the gateways to the Park and the alterations made to the early-19th-century Nicholas Rogers mansion that already stood in the site, later known as the "Mansion House". George A. Frederick, (1842–1924), the 21-year-old Baltimore municipal architect who later won the commission for Baltimore City Hall in 1860, (constructed 1867–1875), provided designs for architectural features in the park. Among Frederick's playful structures for Druid Hill in Moorish and Chinese styles is the Chinese Station erected in 1864 and the Moorish Station,