Though accessible by foot paths and a road, the Swope Memorial, high among the trees on the bluff just east of the lagoon, is seldom visited by the thousands who go to the park each year. The mausoleum, designed by Wight & Wight, architects, was constructed in 1917 at a cost of $44,000, of which $20,000 was paid by the heirs of Col. Thomas H. Swope. The body of Colonel Swope, who gave the park to the city in 1896, was removed from Forest Hill Cemetery April 8, 1918, and placed under a stone in the floor of the mausoleum on which is carved: Thomas Hunton Swope, son of John B. Swope and Frances Hunton Swope. Died Oct. 3, 1909, age 82 years. A fountain, formed like an urn, and a balustrade of white stone to match the granite of the memorial, were added in 1923. Stone steps leading up the 1,000-foot hillside to the mausoleum, were completed in March, 1931. A souvenir booklet, issued by the park board in 1914, stated: Swope Park is the people's great playground. This park of 1,334 acres was the generous gift, free from all encumbrances, of Thomas H. Swope, for which he gained a monument to his memory that time cannot take away. The diversified topography of gentle undulating meadows of large extent and rugged picturesque hills and bluffs covered with virgin forest, makes this a park that in beauty, as well as acres, is not excelled by any of the larger American parks. The noble preservation of forest that covers the rugged hills is being conserved as nature has produced it, with only drives and paths on easy lines to make it accessible. Kansas City Times, May 31, 1975.
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