NIAGARA FALLS — The yearlong celebration of the 125th anniversary of Niagara Falls State Park — the oldest state park in the nation — will reach a climax on Thursday when State Parks Commissioner Carol Ash dedicates Heritage Park, a refurbished “pocket park” at Main Street and the Robert Moses Parkway, just outside the main park.

Ash will be joined by relatives of Thomas V. Welch, who was the first superintendent of the state park, for the 1:30 p. m. ceremony.

July 15, 1885, was the date on which then-Gov. David B. Hill officially opened the park to the pub-

lic. Once privately owned, the park property had become a state reservation in April 1885 when Hill signed the necessary bond issue.

The new park was called Niagara Reservation State Park for many years, until it was later renamed Niagara Falls State Park. The original cost to create the park along the Niagara River at the American Falls was estimated at $1.4 million in 1885.

Admission to the park always has been free, but there usually is a charge for parking in its parking lots.

Thursday’s celebration will continue with a free concert by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra at 7 p. m. in the Meadow on Goat Island above the cataracts. Brief presentations from state and local officials will precede the concert, and parking will be free in Lot 3 on Goat Island.

In honor of the park’s anniversary, the City Council has adopted a resolution stating that “The Niagara Falls State Park is the model from which all other state parks were created.”

The resolution gives credit to the Free Niagara movement, a small group of people who believed that the natural beauty around the falls should be protected from exploitation and should be free to the public.

The leader of the movement was America’s first landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of the Buffalo park system and Central Park in New York City.

Other events commemorating the creation of the park will continue throughout much of the year. One of the biggest events will be an old-fashioned parade through the streets of Niagara Falls beginning at 11 a. m. Saturday at Main and Third streets.

Parade organizer Jerald I. Wolfgang said about 70 marching units, including at least four bands, will participate in the parade. The route will be along Third Street to Old Falls Street, Rainbow Boulevard South, Main Street and Buffalo Avenue to First Street. The reviewing stand will be on Old Falls Street near Rainbow Boulevard North, and marchers will disband at Buffalo Avenue and First Street.

A special feature of the parade will be an appearance by the Woodland String Band, which was established in 1926 and has competed in the annual Philadelphia Mummers Parade every New Year’s Day since Jan. 1, 1927.

Original plans called for a fireworks display after Thursday’s Philharmonic concert, but that display has been canceled. Fireworks displays are planned later in the summer.