b'At Rest and At Play The haunting history of Founders Park.BY ADRIANNA DONATFounders Park. Photo by Jessica Miller.O n the edge of South Or- bodies were left in place, and are still here.inofowners of the South Orange Hotel in Village Plaza. angeVillage,tuckedbe- It may sound spooky, but the park is full of lifeTheir family ran the hotel for decades.tweennewconstructiontoday.Youll also see the name of Abijah Tillou, for many and the railroad tracks, aAs you watch kids romping in the grass you canyears one of the wealthiest and best known men in small and surprising parkappreciate the parks history by checking namesour area. He lived to be 93, and until the end would is coming back to life.town founders engraved on the stone pillartheterrify neighbors by racing his hand-built sleds down Founders Park is onlyparks center.the hill from his home on Ridgewood Road into twoacres,butithasanoversizedimpactontheA quick look turns up local luminaries like Mar- town. Tillou deeded the land for the cemetery to Academy Heights neighborhood. Locals are eager tocusDeLafayetteBallandCorneliaDurandBall,the original congregation of the First Presbyterian gather there, play, watch movies, see theater in theChurch,where park, and bask in native flora and fauna.hewasalife-And maybe even peek around for signs of ourlongmember. dearly departed town founders.He would later Founders Park was built on the cemetery estab- be buried here.lished by Samuel Brown and the Tillou family beforeJ o s e p h the Civil War. It was the most favored space to buryWildey,alsoat residents from both South Orange and MaplewoodrestinFound-and there are between 400 and 500 people interredersPark,es-within its borders.tablishedand Manypeoplewithfamiliarnamesareburiededited the now here. Their names are memorialized on a monumentdefunctSouth created for parkgoers to see. Says President of theOrangeBulle-Founders Park Conservancy, Chris Black, Whentin,thetownsAbijah Tillou deeded the cemetery Founders Park was built on the site of the Valley Streetto the original congregation of the the park was built here more than 50 years ago, thecemetery established before the Civil War. very own localFirst Presbyterian Church.feature story /41'