Hopkins Pond

Elite '09

41

81

Colin C.

Philadelphia, PA

8/5/2008

Ultimately, Hopkins Pond is just a cute pond on the edge of a chichi town. Yet, Hopkins Pond is also the site of the discovery of the first dinosaur skeleton by William Foulke and a Penn professor, Dr. Joseph Leidy, in 1858 -- only 16 years after Dinosaurs were recognized as a group of ancient animals.  Prior to the discovery at Hopkins Pond, only bits and pieces had been found and documented in the US and Europe.

Haddonfield's iconic Hadrosaurus foulkii is on view on the main street of the town, re-animated by the Jurassic Park scientists and then taxidermied by the locals, I imagine.  Or if the sculpture leaves you with a hunger for more hadro-lore, head to the Academy of Natural Sciences on the Parkway, where the original skeleton is kept (http://www.ansp.org/mu...).  

For those truly passionate about dinosaurs and the history of their discovery, this humble pond is something of a holy grail for inspiration.  For Creationists, it is a site of sin and one of the earliest and largest discoveries of Satan's tomfoolery.  Either way, it is a pleasant place for stroll.

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