Foundation Park

Foundation Park is a community park in Pataskala Ohio. This multipurpose park, developed in 1998, encompasses 78 acres. It has basketball courts, little league softball and baseball fields, soccer fields, two playgrounds and a pond.

Thomas J. Evans Foundation

The park was developed by the Thomas J. Evans Foundation. Thomas J. Evans was born February 6, 1874. After graduating from Ohio Normal University's (now Ohio Northern University) school of Pharmacy in 1894, he moved to Newark Ohio. He became a very successful businessman and is credited with many things such as the Newark branch of the Ohio State University, and the Licking Memorial Hospital among other things.

In 1965, with the help of Attorney J. Gilbert Reese, he started the Thomas J. Evans Foundation. This Foundation is responsible for many projects around Licking County Ohio like the land for the J.T. Evans Park, the Johnstown bikeway, sports facilities for the Newark School system and noteworthy projects like Foundation Park.

After a long life as an entrepreneur, pharmacist and philanthropist, Thomas Evans passed away in March of 1967. The Foundation has carried on, and with the work of J. Gilbert Reese and Sarah Wallace, Foundation Park became a reality.

Visiting Foundation Park

The hidden gem of this park is the hiking trails. The first trail is a 1.4-mile trail around the perimeter of the park. It's a fairly new all-purpose trail project with the goal to have it topped with stone or asphalt. This trail is a fairly flat walk around the sports fields.

My favorite trail in Foundation Park though is the one-mile trail in the woods. This dirt trail loops through a twenty-two acre stand of trees with half of the trail following South Fork of the Licking River. This river, once known as Pataskala Creek, joins the North Fork of the Licking River to form the Licking River. This is my favorite part of the trail.

Even though it rained the day before, the trail wasn't too wet. Despite this trail also being flat, you do climb a hill on the north end of the trail that provides a nice view of the river.

Our History in Pataskala

We moved to Pataskala in the late nineties. Our first introduction to Foundation Park was our two boys playing soccer there. The park was pretty new then and the soccer fields were about all that was there. I don't even remember if the pond was there.

Next, they added the baseball and softball fields. I do remember the pond being there at this point. They also added the first playground, the basketball courts and the trail in the woods. We would bring our dogs to the park to get some exercise. They put in an extra parking lot for the trail in the woods and added a shelter house for the community.

Years passed. Our kids grew up and we moved away. We retired and our kids started their own families. We weren't around for the changes that were made to the park.

Until now. It was nice to go back for a visit. The trails are better than ever, and we couldn't believe how nice the park is. The Thomas J. Evans Foundation has done an amazing job.

I never noticed

I have lived around central Ohio almost all of my life. I can't count the times I've hiked Black Hand Gorge Nature Preserve, be it the Black Hand or the Marie Hickey trails, only to now realize how prominent the Licking River is. I have spent many days at Dillon State Park, either camping, fishing, water skiing or just relaxing, not realizing that it is from the waters of the Licking River.

As I have stated earlier, I wasn't aware that the South Fork of the Licking River flowed through Pataskala, only to now read that the North Fork runs through the small town of St Louisville Ohio. My sister has lived there for over 30 years.

I have walked or biked many miles be it the Johnstown trail, the Newark trail or the Black Hand Gorge trail never truly aware I was on the banks of the Licking River.

Although I was oblivious to the name of the river, I never lost sight of its beauty. The clean water with all of the wildlife around the river always kept me coming back. You could always count on seeing birds and deer, not to mention a surprise sighting of who knows what.

Johnathan Chapman

Another surprise I uncovered researching for this entry, but it probably won't be my last, is discovering that Johnathan Chapman's legacy started on the Licking Creek. That's what it was known as at the time. Today it is called the South Fork of the Licking River.

In history books he is known as Johnny Appleseed, born in Leominster, Massachusetts on September 26, 1774. He made his way to Ohio in the early 1800's and planted his first apple orchard in Licking County. He went on to plant apple trees in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois and Ontario, Canada.

Going forward, I will have a newfound interest in visiting these parks in the future. I want to explore in depth the way these areas are not only tied together today but how they were connected in the past. How important was the Licking River system when this country was forming? Or even before.