Hard to believe that when Henry Shaw donated the 277 acres that is now Tower Grove Park to St. Louis, the land was mostly treeless prairie. Shaw himself set about planting thousands of trees in the park and several of them still stand amid the thousands (7,500 at last count) that have sprouted up in the ensuing 150 years. Those trees provide the perfect canopy for joggers. Even if it's mid-afternoon on a 108-degree July day, there's always broad expanses of cool shade to be found along the paths and sidewalks of Tower Grove Park. And while we're pretty sure that Mr. Shaw wasn't a jogger (back in the 1860s people ran only when chased), he no doubt would be pleased by the legion of runners that can be found today trotting about his donated property. After all, one of the objectives of a good city park, according to Shaw, was to be "conducive to the health and happiness of its inhabitants."