Neptune Park - Clinton, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 28.808 W 098° 58.954
14S E 501581 N 3926290
Neptune Park - a rest for the weary traveler.
Waymark Code: WM11E1H
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 10/05/2019
Views: 1
Neptune Park today is a small grassy area with a few pieces of playground equipment, a couple of worn down picnic tables, and a sign. A few local children probably play on the swings, but other than that, there's not much to write home about. NOW, picture yourself driving along Route 66 in 1936, traveling the dusty road with few stops or attractions. "Are we there yet?" Driving along the Mother Road through Clinton, up ahead you notice a sign hanging from a rock pillar - Neptune Park. You pull over, climb out of the Model T, and sit down at one of the tables to rest and perhaps eat one of the sandwiches you've brought along. THIS is the draw of Neptune Park. Not what is there today, but what this stop meant to the travelers in years gone by.
Neptune Park was constructed by the WPA in 1936. Route 66 was a going concern, and ran right through Clinton. This park is not elaborate, but it served the travelers along adjacent Route 66, with picnic tables and a place to pull off the road and rest.
Today, most of the original Route 66 is now Interstate 40, bypassing the town, but in 1936, the park stood in the "Y" between Neptune Drive and Walton Road, right on the Mother Road. We found two WPA picnic tables with native sandstone bases and concrete tops, one in pretty bad shape. The sign for the park, constructed by the WPA with local sandstone has a base and pillar with heavy wood beams from which hangs an Oklahoma-shaped sign which reads: NEPTUNE PARK / Est.11-30.1936
Today, there is a six-sided pavilion with a metal roof, and a few pieces of playground equipment, but the big draw here is its history.