McKinley Park is a historically significant city park located in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

. The Sacramento Street Railway Company built the park in 1871 to attract passengers to its line and the park continues to serve as both a recreational area and a gathering spot for residents of the greater Sacramento area.

Early history

The Sacramento Street Railway Company purchased land near the Sacramento city limits in 1871. Hoping to attract customers, they turned the area into a park. This endeavor was a success, and suburban growth soon followed and made the area more developed. One of the earliest events held at the park was a social dance held on January 21, 1872. Picnics were extremely popular during this time, so predictably many of these were held in the park. Churches and other organizations would organize these events at the park, with the '' Sacramento Record-Union'' reporting that there were seventeen picnics to be held in a five-week period during April and May 1883. The park was purchased from the company by the city of Sacramento in 1902 and renamed from East Park to McKinley Park to honor President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

following his assassination in 1901. The park was also annexed into the city of Sacramento at this time.

Modern use

As of 2021, the park is a staple in the Sacramento community. It is over in size and includes basketball and tennis courts, baseball and soccer fields, and a rose garden. The rose garden, created in 1928, often holds weddings and other events. The park also is host to a $1.5 million playground, which was created after the prior playground(built in 1976) burned down in a 2012 accident. The park also contains a lake, named Lake Keisel after Frederick Keisel, the son of one of the Sacramento Street Railway Company owners. In the 1920s, the lake hosted an alligator exhibit. The lake was renovated in 1988, with an island being added for ducks and geese to nest in. An additional renovation in 2017 improved the lake's water quality. The park was officially listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on October 18, 2018.

References

External links

{{Commons category, McKinley Park, Sacramento Parks in Sacramento County, California 1871 establishments in California National Register of Historic Places in Sacramento, California