All photos in this chapter are © by Joe Konz
This chapter explores the fun legend of Tickle Belly Hill in Garfield Park, and nobody knows about it better than the children who live near the park.
They seem to be the first to learn about this distinguished park landmark (see photos below) before anyone else in a family new to the neighborhood.
My kids said that other children in the neighborhood insisted that when your car hits the hump, the vehicle makes a fast enough lurch that it gives riders in the vehicle a momentary "tickle" in their abdomen.
It’s something like you might experience on a Midway ride at the state fair, only not nearly as dramatic and certainly not sustained like in a fair ride.
Sure enough, the first time I drove over the hump, I felt the "tickle."
The view in the first photo in this post looks southeast on Conservatory Drive toward the main section of the park; the second is from the peak of the hill looking into the park along Conservatory Drive. The third looks almost the same as the first, but it's not. It looks northwest and comes from the other side of the hill.
The view in the first photo in this post looks southeast on Conservatory Drive toward the main section of the park; the second is from the peak of the hill looking into the park along Conservatory Drive. The third looks almost the same as the first, but it's not. It looks northwest and comes from the other side of the hill.
The bridge is among several stone bridges designed by Daniel Deupree in the early-years development of the park.
Above and first five photos below: One objective of my Dec. 21, 2012, shoot was to see if my camera could capture anything that could help explain the tickle mystique of the Tickle Belly Hill bridge. The sideview photos in the first three photos here sort of illustrate that little hump in the middle of the bridge. The fourth photo below doesn't advance the research, but it did give me an unexpected nugget in the bridge's framing of the houses along Raymond Street in the distance. I made a range of images -- perspective, closeup, closer up, and even a couple underbelly shots. I'm sorry to say the pictures didn't solve the mystique with anything definitive, but it was nice to get these anyway.
The image immediately above is a southeast view from the top of the bridge, and the first shot below is another northwest view but from much farther back that the previous northwest view. The farther-reaching view enables you to see Fire Station 29 in the background. The road is blocked off to protect youngsters sledding on the hills to the right of the picture.
The second photo below is another sideview of the bridge and hill, this time during warm weather, with a small portion of the top of the fire station at the left.
You'll find images and references to Tickle Belly Hill elsewhere in this series.
Next up, Chapter 38: Tilting and other unusual trees
Previously in the Garfield Park in Pictures series:
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