Living Near University Park, Worcester: The Pond, the Professors, and the Neighborhood Around Clark
There is a park in Worcester that locals have refused to rename for more than a century. Officially it is University Park. To everyone who grew up skating on its pond, it is Crystal Park. Across the street is a university where Sigmund Freud gave his only American lectures and the father of modern rocketry ran the physics department.
This is a guide to the neighborhood around that park: how it came to be, what it feels like to live near it today, and why residents of The Reeds, about a mile to the east, get to enjoy it alongside the Canal District.
The park Worcester never stopped calling Crystal Park
In the early 1800s this corner of the city was open fields and farmland. Between 1887 and 1889 the City of Worcester bought the land from four private owners, Sarah Anderson, Sylvia Gates, William D. Gates, and Alonzo Whitcomb, and laid out a public park around the pond in the middle. Because the brand-new Clark University sat right across Main Street, the city called it University Park.
Residents had other ideas. The pond was known as Crystal Lake, and the park became Crystal Park in everyday speech. The city's own parks department notes the nickname "was never made official." It stuck anyway, through the summers of toy-boat races and paddle boats and the winters when the pond froze thick enough for skating.
University Park at a glance
What's inside the 14.3 acres today
Simplified plan, not to scale. The newest addition, a spray park, opened in August 2025.
Through the 1940s, 50s, and 60s the park was the neighborhood's living room, with organized arts and crafts, swimming lessons, fishing, and community picnics. Like a lot of urban parks it went through a rougher stretch later in the century. The turnaround came in 2010, when Clark University and the city signed a 20-year voluntary agreement that channeled funding into the surrounding blocks, followed in 2011 by a community-driven master plan. The result is the park you see now: rebuilt courts, a playground, walking trails, picnic areas, and the spray park that opened in 2025.
A park named for a university, claimed by a neighborhood, and shared by both.
The university across the street
Clark University is small, with a few thousand students, but it punches far above its size in history. It was chartered in 1887 with an endowment from Worcester businessman Jonas Clark, and when it opened in 1889 it was the first all-graduate university in the United States. Its first president, the psychologist G. Stanley Hall, founded the American Psychological Association on campus in 1892.
Freud comes to Worcester
For its twentieth anniversary, Clark invited the world's leading thinkers. Sigmund Freud delivered five lectures with Carl Jung at his side. It was the only time Freud ever set foot in America.
The rocket man
Robert H. Goddard, the Worcester native who launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, chaired Clark's physics department. The campus library carries his name.
Small classes, big ideas
Clark is known for psychology, geography, game design, and environmental studies, with a student-to-faculty ratio around nine to one and no Greek life.
Challenge convention
Clark's motto is "Challenge Convention. Change Our World." Its signature program lets students earn a bachelor's and a master's in five years.
Where The Reeds fits in
The Reeds sits at 17 Hermon Street, about a mile east of University Park and Clark, with Crompton Park just a few blocks away and the Canal District's restaurants and Polar Park on the other side.
That puts residents in the middle of two neighborhoods. Walk or bike west for the park, the campus, and Main Street's international kitchens. Walk east for the Public Market, a WooSox game, and the train to Boston.
University Park, Main South, South Worcester: sorting out the names
Worcester neighborhoods overlap, and this part of the city has three names that get used almost interchangeably.
| Name | What it usually means | Landmarks |
|---|---|---|
| University Park | The blocks immediately around the park and Clark University | University Park, Clark University, Woodland Street Historic District |
| Main South | The larger area along Main Street south of downtown, about a mile from City Hall | Main Street's restaurants and markets, the Main South Community Development Corporation |
| South Worcester | The residential area south and east of Main South, toward Southbridge Street | Crompton Park, the Miss Worcester Diner, George's Coney Island |
| Canal District | The former canal corridor east of Main South, where The Reeds sits | Kelley Square, Polar Park, Worcester Public Market, Union Station |
What ties them together is the architecture. This is the Worcester of grand Victorians and classic three-deckers, the stacked wooden triple-family homes the city is famous for, mixed with brick factory buildings that have found new lives as apartments and studios. The Woodland Street Historic District, a few blocks from the park, preserves some of the best late-1800s houses in the city.
A century and a half, in order
- 1865
A mile east, the Taylor & Farley Organ Company builds its brick factory on Hermon Street. Today it is The Reeds.
- 1887
Clark University is chartered with an endowment from Jonas Clark. The same year, the city begins buying the farmland that becomes University Park.
- 1889
Clark opens as the first all-graduate university in the country. The city completes the park purchase.
- 1892
G. Stanley Hall, Clark's first president, founds the American Psychological Association on campus.
- 1909
Sigmund Freud gives five lectures at Clark, his only visit to the United States. Carl Jung comes with him.
- 1920s
Robert Goddard, the father of modern rocketry, chairs Clark's physics department.
- 1948
The Miss Worcester Diner is delivered to Southbridge Street, built across the road at the Worcester Lunch Car Company factory.
- 2010
Clark and the city sign a 20-year agreement that steers funding into the park and the surrounding blocks.
- 2011
A community-led master plan kicks off the park's modern restoration.
- 2025
University Park's new spray park opens.
Eating your way around the park
Main South is one of the most culturally diverse corners of Worcester, and the food shows it. A short walk from the park:
Annie's Clark Brunch
The neighborhood's beloved breakfast counter, a Clark tradition for decades.
Main Taqueria
Quick, generous Mexican plates a few steps from campus.
Ha Tien Market
Vietnamese groceries and banh mi for the walk home.
New Tradition Company
Espresso and a quiet table for getting work done.
Bedlam Book Café
An independent bookstore with a café counter, perfect on a rainy afternoon.
That's Entertainment
A cult-favorite shop for comics, retro video games, vinyl, and collectibles.
Closer to home: Southbridge Street classics
Between the park and The Reeds, Southbridge Street holds two of Worcester's most photographed landmarks. George's Coney Island has been serving hot dogs for more than a century, under one of the most famous neon signs in New England. Across the way, the Miss Worcester Diner is Worcester Lunch Car number 812, built in 1948 at the diner factory that once stood right across the street from it. Worcester shipped hundreds of these prefabricated diners all over the country, and this one is on the National Register of Historic Places.
A few blocks from The Reeds, Crompton Park adds a large skate park, ball fields, and a playground to your everyday radius.
Who the University Park area suits best
- Clark graduate students and faculty A mile from campus with a coworking lounge for long study nights.
- Walkers and runners Crystal Pond's loop, Crompton Park, and the Canal District all within reach.
- Food lovers Main Street's international kitchens on one side, the Public Market on the other.
- Boston commuters Union Station and the commuter rail are a short walk from The Reeds.
- History fans Freud, Goddard, three-deckers, and an 1865 organ factory to live in.
- Pet owners Parks in every direction and a pet-friendly building to come home to.
See the apartments between the park and the ballpark
Explore apartments near Clark University at The Reeds, or browse current studio, one-, and two-bedroom floor plans.
Frequently asked questions
Where is University Park in Worcester?
University Park is a 14.3-acre city park at 965 Main Street, directly across from Clark University. The surrounding blocks are also called the University Park neighborhood, and they are part of the larger Main South area.
Why do people call it Crystal Park?
The pond in the middle of the park was historically called Crystal Lake or Crystal Pond, and generations of residents called the whole park Crystal Park. The city never made the name official, but it has never gone away either.
Is University Park the same as Main South?
The University Park neighborhood is one part of Main South, the larger area that runs along Main Street south of downtown. South Worcester sits just south and east of it. The names overlap, and locals use them loosely.
What is there to do at University Park?
Walk the loop around Crystal Pond, shoot hoops on the basketball courts, play tennis or pickleball, bring kids to the playground and the spray park, or catch a community event like the Main South Celebrates festival.
How far is The Reeds from University Park and Clark University?
The Reeds at 17 Hermon Street is about a mile east of University Park and Clark University, with Crompton Park and the Canal District even closer. It's an easy bike ride or a short drive, and a comfortable walk on a nice day.
Is the University Park area good for Clark students?
Yes. Many Clark juniors, seniors, and graduate students live off campus in the surrounding neighborhoods. The Reeds offers studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments a mile from campus, with in-unit laundry and a coworking lounge for studying.
What famous things happened at Clark University?
Clark opened in 1889 as the first all-graduate university in the United States. The American Psychological Association was founded there in 1892, Sigmund Freud gave his only American lectures there in 1909, and rocketry pioneer Robert Goddard led its physics department.
The Reeds is a boutique apartment residence in a restored 1865 factory in Worcester, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, about a mile from University Park and Clark University. Studios, one-, and two-bedroom apartments are now leasing.
Schedule a Tour View Availability
