05/29/2026
At the beginning of the pool season we thought you might be interested to learn more about this fabulous site in Oswego.
During the 1870s and 1880s, Oswego residents established societies and organizations focused on community improvement and education. Examples included a literary society that maintained a reading room, a women’s college established by area and regional Presbyterians, and a Ladies’ Entertainment Society. The latter was established when a group of 36 women from Oswego gathered on February 12, 1887 and formed the Ladies’ Entertainment Society, for the purpose of raising funds to acquire the land on the bluff overlooking the river for use as a community park. The group’s organizing officers included Mary E. Perkins, president;Hettie C. Hall, vice-president; Franc Wilkin, secretary; and Anna Sharp, treasurer. Other participants included Sue Fisher, Ellen Liggett, Mary Hutchins, Sarah Reed, Louise Morrison, Luella Crum, all wives of prominent merchants and professionals of the city. The group appointed three local men – R. L. Sharp, L. L. Crum, and Col. Glass – to assist in their efforts to buy land.
They raised money through 10-cent membership fees and numerous fundraising events, from concerts to suppers and festivals. H.C. Hall, who owned a section of the property, agreed to donate $50 to the cause and offered to sell the women three to five acres for $40 an acre.
An article on the park’s history published in the July 18, 2001 edition of The Labette Avenue noted, “The Men had a bit of horse trading to do with Mr. Condon, but eventually, they were able to purchase 26 1/2 acres from him for $960. The land was purchased in October 1887 with more ice cream socials and contributions needed to fund the project.” In an interview with the Parsons Sun in 1939, Ladies’ Entertainment Society member Melissa Stice recalled that “townspeople nearly ‘threw a fit’ when they found out about the purchase. At the time, the park was just a rabbit warren, overrun with scrub oak and bushes and fit only for rabbits and snakes.”
In 1902, the Ladies’ Entertainment Society deeded the park to the City of Oswego for one dollar. Small park improvement projects were noted in local newspapers of the early 20th century, but there was no collective effort to fully develop the park for visitors until the 1930s. For instance, a small wooden shelterhouse was built in the northeast corner of the park in the 1920s. Below the park along the banks of the Neosho River, a pool was built in 1922. It was open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day and was supervised by two ladies of the Entertainment Society, which by that time had become the Oswego Women’s Club. Other early 20th century historical references to the park suggest the City and townspeople had failed to develop this site to its full potential, despite the efforts of a few. For instance, a 1916 history of Oswego noted, “In recent years an earnest attempt has been made to add some very desirable ground to Riverside Park. But from failure on the part of many of our people to realize the advantage of this, and therefore from want of cooperation of our citizens, this effort failed…Of course our River Side [sic] Park as it is has the elements of as fine a park as can be found in the west. The city has not yet seen itself able to expend on its development and adornment the sums necessary to give the public anything like benefit which they should derive from such a place.”
The park was largely improved in the 1930s with the assistance of the Federal New Deal aid programs. Between 1933 and 1937, the City erected picnic shelters and swimming facilities with the aid of the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee (KERC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
On April 1, 1934, the City of Oswego applied to the KERC for funds to construct a pool and bathhouse, and that application was approved on May 17. A bond election was held August 7, and local residents voted to issue bonds in the amount of $15,000 “for the purpose of improvement of Riverside Park and er****on of buildings thereon, necessary and incident to the construction of a swimming pool.” Two weeks later, on August 27, the City entered into a contract with Wilson Engineering Company of Salina, Kansas, for the design and supervision of the building of the swimming pool. That same year, application was made to the WPA for funding for “improvements” to the park, though those improvements are not specified in available documentation.
The Oswego Democrat covered seemingly every detail of the pool’s construction. Just prior to the grand opening, for instance, the newspaper noted, “Grassy sod has been placed so as to terrace the building from the front or south, and on the west where it slopes to the roadway. The east or higher side, has been filled with crushed rock so that cars can line up and park facing the pool. Plenty of parking space has been provided and two roadways make access to the pool easy. A new drive on the west side of the park is also being constructed so as to give additional parking space.”
The pool was to be managed by C.A. Novak of Ottawa, who also managed pools in Ottawa and Chanute. During a speaking engagement with a local organization, Novak boasted this pool ranked “among the top in sanitation,” noting “the water in your pool will at all times meet the most rigid inspection as to purity, and I can say that it will be more pure than the water you drink…the pool is swept each morning with huge brushes towards the deep end, where a vacuum cleaner takes all of this sediment out before going to the filter.” Additionally, he added that a new sanitary innovation included “the foot bath which is entered just after passing through the compulsory showers.”
The swimming pool grand opening was held June 19, 1935, and some 2,500 people attended the festivities, which included swimming and diving demonstrations and a high school band concert. Mayor W. A. Blair was the master of ceremonies and former Governor Clyde Reed of Parsons spoke briefly. In his remarks, Mayor Blair credited the Walter J. Lindstrom Post of the American Legion for first bringing the idea of constructing a pool to the local government. He also credited former county engineer Joe Jarboe for his assistance in the early development of the pool site. Also in attendance was the only surviving member of the Ladies’ Entertainment Society from when the park was first established – 94-year-old Melissa Stice.
At the time of its construction, it was the second largest public pool to be built in southeast Kansas. The larger communities of Parsons, Pittsburg, Independence, and Columbus, for example, did not have public pools. Only Chanute, 57 miles away, had a similar public pool. It was estimated that the Oswego pool would draw swimmers from a radius of 40 miles around Oswego and would pull from a population base of about 100,000 people.
The swimming pool was a major draw for visitors, but the park was used for other entertainment functions. The park was the location for weekly community band concerts outside the pool and numerous family and community picnics, many of which were noted and advertised in the local newspaper. Just a year after the opening of the swimming pool, arrangements were made to show movies in the park. The Oswego Democrat credited Mr. Neale Gordon of Parsons with coining the phrase “Parksho,” which was described as a new form of entertainment “where-in the patrons view the show from the comfortable luxury of their own motor cars in the cool open air.” The cost was a 25-cent parking fee. The first two shows were silent films, and the third was a talkie entitled His First Command. These films were shown during July 1936, just three years after the world’s first drive-in theater opened on June 6, 1933 in Camden, New Jersey. Research has not yet determined how such an event was staged and no obvious physical remnants remain from the property’s Parksho days.
The Parksho phenomenon reinforces the importance of the automobile in the development of the park in the 1930s, and that both beauty and convenience were factors in the planning and design of Riverside Park. The park’s circular drive was connected to two city streets that provide convenient access in and out of the park. Additionally, the pool was designed with ample space for parking, which was specifically noted in the 1930s newspapers.
The majority of major improvements to the park were completed by 1940, although maintenance and small projects were ongoing. It is not known when some features were added to the park, including the fountains and stone paths, but they appear historic and may have been added along with the other 1930s features, but records do not confirm specific construction details. Playground equipment in the park could date back to the 1940s and more equipment has been added since then.
…..Taken from the National Register Nomination Form submitted by Karen L. Carpentar, December 2011. RIverside Park designated on the National Register of Historic Places July 17, 2012
For more photos, follow this link
https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=099-186
