downtownguy had a great story in his blog on Friday about Delmar Park. I'm guessing this was at NE 10th and Eastern where the zoo and State Fair Park used to be. Hey downtownguy, are there any remnants of these facilities left? I've never been over there. Looks like Douglas Center park is located there now???? Is that correct???? Any clue where on the grounds the state fair, amusement park, and Delmar Gardens used to be? Did this used to be Wheeler Park, because Wheeler Park is now at SW 13th and Walker? I'm guessing a new Wheeler Park was created at some point and the old park was renamed?
Also, was Douglas High School ever part of this park, or was it built after Delamr park was long gone?

Finally, was the river diverted south, or did it move itself south?

Just trying to get a clarification on where everything was located.


Anyways, you can see the article at: http://www.downtownguy.blogspot.com/
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Friday, September 17, 2004
The Oklahoma River ----- Our Past, Our Future
So why should a downtown guy like myself care about the Oklahoma River? It’s not really downtown, is it?

Define downtown. It’s not what it was a decade ago. And it’s not what it will be in 2014. To understand how downtown Oklahoma City will connect with the Oklahoma River (what we used to call the North Canadian River), it’s important to go back. Way back.









Delmar Gardens opened in 1902, a decade after the emergence of New York’s Coney Island. Waterside amusement parks graced with board walks were all the rage, and Oklahoma City was eager to join the latest entertainment fad.

John Sinopoulo and Joseph Marre, who trained at Delmar Gardens in St. Louis, opened the park on property owned by Charles Colcord. The park boasted of a theater, race track, baseball field, swimming pool, railway, beer hall, hotel and restaurant. The 40-acre park along the North Canadian River drew thousands of visitors and attracted entertainers like Lon Chaney, and boxers John L. Sullivan and Jack Dempsey.

Delmar Park, however, fronted a prairie river, and not the Atlantic Ocean. Mosquotoes and flooding made the spot less than ideal for the city’s recreational hot spot. Prohibition helped kill the park, which faded by 1910.





Ironically, the State Fair at its current location isn’t any further from the river than it was when it was opened at Northeast 10th and Eastern Avenue. The architecture of the old park, however, sure was more impressive than what we have now:



Once again, flooding motivated a move to Northwest 10th and May Avenue. The riverside Wheeler Park would remain – but it’s a ghost of what it once was. And the zoo that opened at Wheeler Park in 1904 moved to Northeast 50th and Eastern Avenue after most of the animals were killed in a major flood in 1923. The park was literally cut in two when the river, over flood stage, overtook the Lake Overholser dam.










The Oklahoma River will be a place to live, work and play.

- The Downtown Guy
www.downtownguy.blogspot.com