With the recent string of gloomy weather I wasn’t sure when I was going back to Price Park for my next post. But fate has a habit of giving me crazy thoughts at inconvenient times. Despite the grey atmosphere surrounding the campus, on the morning of February 11th I decided I needed a break from all the work and gloom. So naturally, I warmed up the Camry and took a drive down to Price Park for my second adventure, my head filled with ‘80s rock.
While I mainly stuck to the dog trails and the field of weeds last time, now I was ready to just let loose and head into the park’s vast forest as well as begin to learn about its history. Just beyond the public library lied the destination, a large and mysterious set of woods that remained mostly untouched by the urban world, except for a sign post and slightly man made trail here and there. Once I entered, I could just smell the cold, moist air around me as I retreated deeper and deeper in. It was quiet, not too muddy and perfect to just let off some steam. While I mainly got a quiet and peaceful vibe the last time, the grey and gloomy atmosphere this time around gave the setting a new layer of depth. It felt more alive and real than last time, because now I was seeing nature’s reaction to the weather through my surroundings. A great example of this was the plants, but we’ll get to that in a second.
As I continued my trek through the woods, I began to come across some beautiful plants and flowers that I completely failed to notice last time around. While they looked to be drooping down quite a bit from the rain, I realized this might’ve been good for them considering how dry it had been here previously. While I would say I was curious to know more about them, luckily for me there just happened to be some signs conveniently posted nearby, giving hikers like myself a great little overview of the surrounding vegetation. I believe the photo below says it all.
Once I returned to civilization, I was super curious to know more about the land’s history so I began by researching the Jefferson Pilot corporation, due to the fact that Price Park’s land was once a recreation area for their employees. From my findings it seems as though Jefferson Pilot is one of the U.S.’s largest insurance companies in terms of being owned by shareholders, originally founded in 1901 alongside 10 other insurance companies in Greensboro. Later on in 1919, Julian Price became the companies president and led it into prosperity through his leadership. It seems as though his business decisions made him highly respected among his colleagues and could possibly be the reason for the park’s namesake.
While that’s all I have for now, I guarantee that library will have tons of better info into why and how the land became the modern Price Park. Next time I plan on looking over a management plan for the park and I’ll begin to look more into the actual park’s history once more resources become available to me. But that’s all for today. Ciao for now!
Sources:
https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/71/Jefferson-Pilot-Corporation.html
