King Jack – from overgrown woods to manicured park

King Jack Park and the Sucker Flat mine pit that fronted it have certainly gone through a lot of changes.

Harrison Kash grew up in his family home within sight of the Praying Hands and lived there almost his entire life. He recalled that in his youth, the area we know as King Jack Park was the beginning of a mining area, and believe it or not, the area was flat.

I love his colorful description of a memory of the digging of Sucker Flat. He recalls that they “removed the bowels of earth” and piled them up on a hill along Pennsylvania Street. So it is ironic that the same “bowels of the earth” were returned to fill the pit from where they came. A portion of the hill on the north was made a bit taller to allow the Praying Hands to seem to touch the heavens.

To the southwest of Sucker Flat, Harrison remembers a track that would haul the mine ore over to a sludge table where new houses now stand in Alpine Estates. The track was high and went over Pennsylvania Street. Part of that hill where the track was located still stands just south of the Newby Log Cabin but not nearly as tall.

King Jack Park had a controversial beginning back in 1966. The Park Board was offered an opportunity to purchase 154 acres of land for $27,000. It seemed like a good deal to Park Board Chairman George Garrison. So in August 1966, a $2,000 deposit was put down on the land. An attempt to pass a general obligation bond of $10,000 failed. The City Council and Mayor Bob Baker voted to advance the $25,000 to the Park Board to purchase the land, and Sucker Flat became Park Board property.

Some claimed that the citizens had voted not to buy the land when the general obligation bond was defeated. But the council said the bond issue was for improvements to the land – not purchasing it.

Then there were protests that the mined land was too dangerous for a park. Each attempt to acquire funds was failed as the citizens voted against the bonds. Then the city tried to pass a $135,000 general obligation bond in September of 1968 to build a new public swimming pool in the park. Once again, the issue failed to receive the support of the voters.

HUD offered a matching grant of $90,400 dollars to go toward the swimming pool in case the voters changed their minds, but the offer was only good until December 1970. It was later pulled by HUD and used elsewhere.

Small improvements were made in 1969 as the Webb City Saddle Club built a rodeo arena. The National Guard constructed an east-west road through the middle of the land. The baseball diamonds were built with a matching grant from The Soil Conservation Service. The two lakes created from the mining in King Jack Park; Webb Lake and Sucker Flat were declared safe for fishing but not for swimming. The land was beginning to be used as the park that the city had originally planned.

Jack Dawson conceived an idea to create the Praying Hands in 1971. The project was paid for by donations and set into place in 1972. The Praying Hands in this small Missouri town became nationally known.

In 1976, Webb City’s 100th birthday coincided with the 200th birthday of the United States. Dawson was commissioned to design and create the Kneeling Miner Statue for dedication as part of the centennial celebration. The idea of the statue was to pay tribute to those who worked in the mines.

King Jack Park was coming to life. The baseball park continued to grow with the volunteer work of dedicated parents. The rodeo grounds were in constant use. The first annual Mining Days Celebration was first held in King Jack Park in 1980. The founder of the celebration, Bill Lundstrum, just happened to be the chairman of the Park Board at the time, and he saw the celebration as an opportunity for the citizens to become better acquainted with King Jack Park.

The highlight of Mining Days was Old Streetcar No. 60. Fred Rogers and his loyal friends formed the Southwest Missouri Railroad Association, laid the track and restored the streetcar. At first, in 1981, you could only ride the streetcar as far as the Praying Hands, stand up, push the seat back forward and sit facing the other direction as the streetcar went back to the depot. It was a short ride but very popular. Finally, with a great support of volunteers the streetcar eventually went full circle around a portion of King Jack Park in 1986.

After putting up tents for several years, in 1991 the Mining Days Committee built the shelters in the front of the park. They were remodeled and are now known as the farmers market pavilion.

If you are in King Jack Park in the evenings when soccer, softball and baseball are in action, you know that Webb City’s King Jack Park is busy. Other amenities have been added through the years. The Georgia City Bridge was moved to King Jack Park in 1996 and eventually made part of the walking trails. A high-flying huge flag was donated by a generous family in 2002. In 2004, the new amphitheater and Mining Days Community Building were completed. They were built with a grant from the Department of Natural Resources and a $125,000 donation from the Mining Days Committee. That donation was from proceeds of past Mining Days celebrations.

The Missouri Department of Transportation provided grants to fund 80 percent of the walking trails created in 2000. Bridges on the trail were donated by W.H. Perry Jr.. He and his wife donated $100,000 to build the tennis courts in 2004. A new soccer field was built in 2005 to replace the original soccer field, which had been named in honor of NeyDean Cunningham.

The street entering the park off Hall Street was dedicated in honor of Mayor Robert J. Baker, who was instrumental in purchasing the land for King Jack Park. A new entrance into the park was dedicated in September 2005, featuring the new Kneeling Miner.

The large playground, railroad and streetcar themed pavilions and splash pad have been added since then.

Lots of ground work has improved the looks of the park – from overgrown woods to manicured park.