HISTORY OF THE THEODOR S. SLEN PARK and POOL IN MADISON MN By Theodor S. Slen “The way to the full-blown establishment of the park followed a block and a half tract, enclosed with a barbed wire fence around it, and with a low horse stable, a haystack, and a manure pile upon it, and with live horses and mules grazing on it, to a completed public swimming pool as part of it. In the year 1925 the mayor of Madison, Dr. Nels Westby, who was also the Chief of Staff of the Ebenezer Hospital had a vision of Madison's future. Mayor Westby’s great interest was not known to be trees or parks but rather the quality of life in the Madison community. In his many trips to the hospital (then located where the Madison Clinic is now) he could hardly avoid being bothered by the condition of the street as it ran between what is now the pool park and the lots on the west side of the street - water and mud all about, and the barbed wire fence and pasture to the east. Dr Westby suggested to the council to appoint Arthur W. Hauck to fill the council vacancy. Again we have to deal with a lover of trees, and Hauck joined councilman Dr. Peter Wesby in promoting the idea of converting the pasture along First Avenue into a park. The council passed a formal resolution to establish the park on December 7th, 1925. Early the next year, councilman August Johnson was put in charge of the enterprise. By this time a nursery and greenhouse had been established in Madison, from whom trees for planting along the borders of the projected park were bought for $713.00 and Mr. Johnson organized a “bee” to plant trees. The banks and other business places in town released their clerks and other employees to dig the holes for the trees. The trees were planted 30 feet apart, regularly alternating elm and ash in the row. In the interim between the planting of the border trees and the finishing of the pool in 1938, the park itself was planted. Adolph L. Arveson was on the Park Board and knew Theodore Wirth who had been the Superintendent of Parks in Minneapolis. Mr. Wirth came here (to Madison) to help plan the Park layout. Mr. Wirth, a trained landscape gardener, wanted to help plan a park, and not a grove with straight line rows of trees, nor did he want any signs, “Keep Off the Grass”. He had brought with him a bag of walnuts, and from various places on the tract he tossed out walnuts, and where these fell he marked each place with the name of the kind of tree or bush that should be planted there. The only “row” of trees planted was one along the west side of the pool, and here Mr. Soholt planted large elms, with large frozen clods of earth attached to their roots, hauled therein the early spring by tractor and hoist.” Taken from the Madison Historical Album by the Madison Centennial Book Committee Madison, MN
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AuthorTeri Patterson writes on all things pertaining to history. Many blog posts are references to family tree information Archives
July 2020
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