Siloam Springs City Park Siloam Springs, AR - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

Count of site: Benton County
Location of site: Mt. Olive St. & University St., Siloam Springs
Created: 1897

"These historic icons of our town are located at the corner of University and Mt. Olive and at the south end of Broadway." ~ City of Siloam Springs

Hard to put things in perspective. This city park is small, had a bridge, and walk way a stream (Sager Creek) and a few fountain heads in the stream, and a gazebo. That is all that is here, except for a few benches. This is a good shot of the best parts: Wikipedia Commons

"Siloam Springs City Park runs several hundred feet along Sager Creek just south of University Street, which was formerly called St. John Street. When the town was platted this area was set aside as a public park around THE Siloam Spring. The Siloam Spring was named in 1879, making it the first named spring in town. The springs in town were used for drinking, not for bathing. They were described as pure water that would flush disease-causing impurities from a person's body. At both the Twin and Siloam Springs, there was a $5 fine for washing in the springs. However, rock basins were constructed around both of these springs to keep the creek out of the spring, not to create a pool for bathing.

"The Queen Anne-style gazebo was built ca. 1895 and restored to its original appearance in 1989.

"A lower limestone dam was constructed shortly after the park was established to create a shallow "lake." Sanborn maps from 1897 to 1914 a Siloam Lake in Spring Creek (called it Spring Creek until 1922 Sanborn map, when it became Sager Creek)>

"The concrete footbridge and street bridge, which date to 1911, provided access to Siloam Spring. Cross the Footbridge. A concrete and rock wall and was built at some point to control access to a footpath that was known as Lover's Lane. The path went up the hill and came out behind some houses in the Carl's Addition Historic District. A concrete staircase with steel pipe hand rail was built in 1911, according to the plaque.

"A much more elaborate rock wall with recessed arches was built at the Siloam Spring in 1882 and remained until about 1892. It was probably damaged or destroyed by the flood of 1892, and the current wall was built in 1897 to replace it. The plaque on the wall is very weathered, but you can see it a little better in the photo in the gallery. It says "Siloam Springs 1st Anniversary June 24, 1880, 1897." The plaque dates to 1897 and commemorates the first celebration of the City of Siloam Springs on June 24, 1880. To explain this a little more, the town was platted in March 1880, but the Masonic Order (Masonic Lodge) celebrates June 24 as St. John's Day, so this annual Masonic holiday became the city-wide celebration and has since been held as the town's birthday. This is were the St. John's Street name comes from as well (now University)." ~ Arkansas Historic Preservation Program: Rachel Silva