Salisbury Park is one of Worcester’s most iconic parks, most famous for Bancroft Tower, the 116 year old castle-esq monument named after Worcester native, former Secretary of the Navy, diplomat, and historian George Bancroft. The tower was built by Stephen Salisbury III, the last of the Worcester’s esteemed Salisbury family, who built it to honor Bancroft who was his father’s childhood friend.

The tower was built in 1900 using horses and carriages to transport the large stones up Prospect Hill. The land the tower was built on was owned by Salisbury. The area around the tower did not become a park until 1912, when the Trustees of the Worcester Art Museum donated it to the city (Stephen Salisbury III left much of his estate to the Art Museum).

Salisbury Park itself extends down almost to Park Ave, as it includes both of the wooded areas that line Massachusetts Ave. The paved road around the Tower was open for driving until the 70s-80s, when it was closed off with the current stone pillars. The Tower itself was open to the general public until the 1980s, but due to illicit activity going on there and the danger that the unmonitored 56-foot Tower poses.

Salisbury Park features Bancroft Tower, parking adjacent to the Tower, and a segment of the East West that runs through the steep, wooded area of the park – leading down to Park Ave towards Institute Park. The trail had been overgrown for many years and it was only in 2016  that the Park Stewards Summer Workers recut the trail to incorporate it into the cross-city East West Trail.

In 2014, Park Spirit of Worcester, Inc, reopened the tower to the general public in a series at which the park, the tower, and its history were presented on Sundays in October. The event continued in 2015 and 2016.