Founded in 1912, the 72-acre (290,000 m2) zoo has such exotic animals as lions, tigers, pygmy hippos, Masai giraffes, budgerigars, Amur leopards, western lowland gorillas, and Grévy's zebra.

Once the focus of the zoo, the Bear Dens were designed and built in 1912, and were planned to have a small collection of domestic animals.

As the grounds deteriorated, and as the Parks Department neglected many of the landscape's most basic management needs, the Bear Dens became too expensive to maintain.

Efforts have been made since 1980 to make Long Crouch Woods into a nature preserve with a snack bar and theatre facility; however, plans have continued to stall.

The project was completed with labor from summer youth crews comprising at-risk teens from the surrounding area.

The park is a famed cross country course, hosting a number of high school and collegiate meets throughout the year.

Franklin Park also won the honor of hosting the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1992, as a special 12.5 kilometer course was used for competition.

[4][1] Franklin Park is often cited as the location of the "first game of intercollegiate ice hockey played in the United States" on January 19, 1898.

This area has featured such renowned musicians as Duke Ellington, the Billy Taylor Trio and the Boston Pops.

[14] From 1823–1824, before the park was created, Ralph Waldo Emerson lived in a small cabin atop what is now named "Schoolmaster Hill", running a "School for Young Ladies" with his mother and brother.