FAYETTEVILLE -- The public is invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony for an interpretive sign describing the history of Wilson Park.
The ceremony will be at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday on the east side of Wilson Park, north of Scull Creek and the pool parking lot, according to a city news release.
According to research by Jerry Hogan, a local historian, and Tony Wappel, Washington County archivist, a portion of the 22.5-acre property was used as a city park as early as 1906. The land was owned and operated by A.L. Trent. Each spring and summer, Trent's Pond -- now where the Wilson Park softball field lies -- was used as a swimming hole, boating area and social gathering spot.
In 1926, a group of investors, led by Noah Drake, bought the land from Trent and built the city's first permanent swimming pool. Five acres were purchased by the city for $16,000 in 1944.
Charles Morrow Wilson in 1946 donated about 17 acres west of what was then called City Park to Fayetteville. The park was renamed Wilson Park after Wilson's mother, Mattie Morrow Wilson.
Today, the park has a pool, playground, softball field, tennis courts, a basketball court, sand volleyball court, restrooms, picnic areas, a gazebo, greenhouse, 0.9-mile walking and running trail and the "Seven Points" castle, which artist and sculptor Frank Williams completed in the early 1980s.
For more information about Wilson Park or Tuesday's ribbon-cutting ceremony, call the Parks and Recreation Department at 479-444-3471, or go to accessfayetteville.org.
NW News on 09/29/2014