Ackerman Island was a sandbar island located in the
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...
in downtown
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
, United States. It was located on the north side of the Douglas Street Bridge.
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.
In 1912, the Island Park baseball stadium was built on the island. Baseball was played at that stadium from 1912 until it was torn down in 1933.
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.
By the early 1930s, flooding concerns led the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
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.
In 1934, a new baseball stadium,
Lawrence Stadium, was built a few blocks south to replace the one formerly on the island.
See also
*
National Baseball Congress
The National Baseball Congress of Wichita, Kansas is an organization of 17 amateur and semi-professional baseball leagues operating in the United States and Canada. Since its founding in 1935 by Hap Dumont, it has conducted an annual North America ...
*
List of defunct amusement parks
The following is a list of amusement parks and theme parks that have been closed, demolished, or abandoned:
Africa
Egypt
* Luna Park, Cairo (1911–1915)
Rwanda
*Kigali Park, Rwanda
South Africa
* Ratanga Junction, Cape Town (1998-2018)
...
**
Joyland Amusement Park
Joyland Amusement Park was a small family-owned traditional amusement park, located in Lubbock, Texas, United States within Lubbock's Mackenzie Park. It typically operated from March to September of each year, opening 6 days a week but only duri ...
**
Wild West World
Wild West World was a Wild West theme park in Park City, Kansas that opened on May 5, 2007 and closed on July 9, 2007. It was located on along Interstate 135 near Phil Ruffin's Wichita Greyhound Park, which closed the same year.
History
The p ...
References
Further reading
* Ackerman's Island; Robert Razook; Located at Wichita Public Library; 1971; 13 pages.
External links
;Ackerman Island (Historical)
* History
Ackerman Island specialcollections.wichita.edu
* Photos
Ackerman Island wichitaphotos.org
* Maps
1882 Edwards Map of the City of Wichita specialcollections.wichita.edu
;Wonderland Park / Wonderland Amusement Park (Historical)
* History
Lawrence-Dumont Stadium specialcollections.wichita.edu
* Photos
Wonderland Amusement Park wichitaphotos.org
Landforms of Kansas
Geography of Wichita, Kansas
Works Progress Administration in Kansas
{{SedgwickCountyKS-geo-stub