Ackerman Island

Ackerman Island was a sandbar island located in the Arkansas River in downtown Wichita, Kansas, United States. It was located on the north side of the Douglas Street Bridge.

Ackerman Island
Geography
LocationArkansas River
Coordinates37.687309°N 97.345363°W / 37.687309; -97.345363 (Ackerman Island (defunct))
Administration
United States
StateKansas
CityWichita

History

The sandbar started to form in the 1870s, supposedly due to a drop in the water level of the Arkansas River.

Joseph Ackerman, a local businessman, acquired the island in 1890. In 1905, he sold the island, then the Wonderland Park (aka Wonderland Amusement Park) was built and remained open until 1918.[1]

In 1912, the Island Park baseball stadium was built on the island.[2] Baseball was played at that stadium from 1912 until it was torn down in 1933.[3]

In 1925, at this stadium, a Ku Klux Klan team played baseball against an all-black team named Wichita Monrovians. The Monrovians won 10–8. Proceeds were donated to charity.[4]

By the early 1930s, flooding concerns led the Works Progress Administration to organise the removal of the sandbar. The east side of the island was used to fill the west channel of the river and the east channel was widened and became the current river. The island became part of the current west bank of the Arkansas River.[1]

In 1934, a new baseball stadium, Lawrence Stadium, was built a few blocks south to replace the one formerly on the island.

See also

References
  1. Decker, Ralph Jr. (April 26, 2002). "Wonderland Park". defunctparks.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2007.
  2. "1917 photo of aerial view of downtown Wichita looking east, showing Island Park baseball stadium and Douglas Street Bridge on right". Wichita Photo Archives. Kansas Library Network Board. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  3. Tihen, Edward N. "List of newspaper articles about early Wichita baseball; Tihen Notes; Wichita State University Department of Special Collections" (PDF). Wichita State University Libraries' Department of Special Collections.
  4. Willis, Carly (February 4, 2019). "1925 baseball game between Klan and Negro league team". KSNW. Archived from the original on February 5, 2019.

Further reading
  • Ackerman's Island; Robert Razook; Located at Wichita Public Library; 1971; 13 pages.
Ackerman Island (Historical)
Wonderland Park / Wonderland Amusement Park (Historical)
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