Belle Isle State Park - August 19 am

Belle Isle State Park (formerly Belle Isle - recently the City leased it to the State of Michigan) was named in 1845 (it means 'beautiful Island' (other states also have a Belle Isle) and was given to the city of Detroit by Alexander Macomb. 


The island, which is in the Detroit River between Canada (to the right in the first image and, as many people in Detroit will tell you - Canada is to the south from Detroit - one of the few places in the US about which this may be accurately said) and the US was built per a design by Frederick Olmstead, one of the US's premier landscape artists although it was only partly completed to Olmstead's design.

One of highlights is a recently repaired (actually the repairs were completed only in May 2014) James Scott Memorial fountain. The second and third images are of the fountain. The fountain is in the lower part of the first image in the circle above the trapezoidal lake on the island.

James Scott was a colorful fellow with many enemies but no heirs and he gave a fortune to the City of Detroit for a fountain which would have to include his statue (in the second image you can see the dark bronze statue behind the fountain, assuming you click on it to enlarge it - its to the right of the lion on the right

and also an image from the web is included as the fourth image). The fountain was built in 1925 out of white Vermont marble.


The lower bowl has a diameter of over 500' and the center spray goes over 125' above the plaza. There are several dozen small fountains with various creatures both real and mythical.

The fountain is considered the best one in the Western Hemisphere (even better than the Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas because of the sculpture) although some of the great Italian fountains (e.g., the Trevi Fountain and the Fountains at St Peter's in Rome, probably exceed it in fame and beauty.