Burnham Park was established in 1911 when Mrs. Celestia Phillips-Pomroy-Burnham, in her Last Will and Testament, willed to “the citizens of the Village of Sylvania” this land for park purposes.

Over the years history has credited Sylvania resident Henry Burnham with donating the property for this park, but the true facts prove that it was his second wife, Celestia, who donated this park property. Celestia’s grandparents Paul and Fanny Hawes purchased the property in 1837, then it was willed to her mother, Susan Hawes-Phillips, in 1841. Then, in 1873, Celestia inherited all of the park property east to include Phillips Avenue from Erie Street south to Maplewood and then south to Monroe Street and east to Judi Young Lane. Continue reading Sylvania Then & Now – Burnham Park