WHITING PARK . . . A LOOK BACK

By Frank Vargo

May 2020

Our “Little City by the Lake” has many attractions that bring people to visit us. From our internationally known Pierogi Fest, our 100 year old Fourth of July parade, the Mascot Hall of Fame, Oil City Stadium, Summer with the Symphony and our quaint 119th Street, thousands of people come to Whiting every year.

However, the one location that has seen more visitors than any other is our Whiting Lakefront Park. Around 1902, our city fathers were asked to develop an area for the enjoyment and recreation of its citizens. It took a few years to finally bring this plan to fruition. Frank Long, chairman of the City Council’s Park Committee, worked tirelessly to make sure the park was built. In 1909, about twenty-two acres of land, bounded by 117th Street, Front Street, the New York Central Railroad tracks and Lake Michigan, were purchased from the Forsythe estate for $75,000. Thus, Whiting Park came into existence.

Not only did people flock to the sandy beaches for sunbathing and swimming, but the thousands of workers at the Standard Oil Company now had a clean, green area in which to relax and take their families for a Sunday stroll or picnic.

A bathhouse was constructed where you could rent a bathing suit for ten cents a day. As time went on, a pier was constructed along with some rope swings to jump in the lake, two “giant” waterslides and an 18 foot high diving board for the more daring beach goers. Life guards were on hand to teach both children and adults how to swim. A rescue boat provided extra safety for those swimmers who might get into trouble. During summer vacations, students from Whiting and Clark high schools filled the beaches and grassy areas for fun and friendships. On weekends, people from other cities in Lake County, as well as from Chicago, spent their time visiting the park.

On land, people could walk the pathways, play tennis, watch baseball games or just enjoy the cool breezes when it turned “cooler near the lake.” The city even built a free nine hole putting green. Many baseball leagues called Whiting Park their home. There were concerts on Thursday evenings by the Whiting Municipal Band and on some Sundays, by the Standard Oil Company Band.

The park was never busier than during the 4th of July celebrations. These celebrations didn’t just last for one day. The carnival, with games, rides, food booths, dancing and bands, sometimes lasted for five days. All of this culminated of course on the 4th itself. With the start of the parade at 10 am to the “Grand Fireworks Display” at 10 pm, Whiting was filled with her citizens as well as visitors from all over Lake County.

Another time of celebration was the Labor Day weekend when another carnival came to town. Local churches, clubs and organizations had food booths or offered games of chance to win prizes that little kids begged their parents to win for them. A gigantic fireworks display ended the celebration. The parents went home smiling, but their children left sad. Not only was summer over, but the next day was the first day of school!

According to accounts in the newsletter of the Whiting/Robertsdale Historical Society (Summer, 1986) “Parents would dress up the kids, even pushing baby carriages with their infants who were wearing fluffy bonnets, and find a place to sit on the grass for an evening of music. People who lived farther away and had to drive to the park sometimes sat on the hood of their cars and blew their horns to signal that they really liked a particular band number. Before air conditioning, some people spent all night sleeping in the park until the father had to get up early to get ready for work. This was all done under the protective eyes of the Whiting Police Department.”

In winter, people used the park in other ways. Sliding down the hills on sleds, ice skating on the frozen waters of the lagoon, playing ice hockey, making snow angels or just having a good snowball fight were favorite activities. The city even added lights in the lagoon. In the 1920s, there was a yearly ice carnival and ice skating tournament. A toboggan slide was also built on the hillside.

During the Great Depression, the Gun Club building was constructed and the trap shooting range was improved. But basically, the years of the Great Depression and World War II were lean years for the park. The city didn’t have the necessary money for upkeep and many of the earlier structures fell into disrepair. The great exception to this was the building of the “stone houses” or “fairy houses” as some people called them.

The great mystery of Whiting Park is “who built them?” Many believe that the houses were built as part of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program in the early 1930’s. Over the years, many Whiting residents said their grandfathers, fathers, uncles or brothers built them. No one however has any proof to back up their claims.

A few of these “stone houses” were over two feet tall. They were built in rows by the lagoon bridge and in the park’s largest tiered flowerbeds. Stone roads helped to connect these buildings. The structures were built of concrete on chicken wire frames. They were covered with smooth pieces of glass and pebbles from the beach. At one time, the buildings were wired to light up when darkness fell. Among the houses were a barn, silo and even a castle. At the goldfish pond near the park’s entrance, stood a tall stone lighthouse. Some Slovak people said that the “stone houses” reminded them of their villages back in the “old country.”

By the early 1940s, the buildings near the bridge were gone, but the buildings in the flowerbeds remained until the 1960s. The flowerbeds are still there, but the “stone houses” or “fairy houses” are found today only in old pictures and our childhood memories. However, since the turn of the 21st century, two new small stone structures have appeared in the park. The first was a lighthouse near where the new gazebo is located. Around 2015, a new stone house mysteriously appeared one morning along the road near the new boat launch. Where did they come from? Who built them?

Whiting Park has undergone tremendous changes over the last ten years. Gone are the rocks along the dusty parking lot, the old baseball field, the gun club and trapshooting range. Whihala Beach has replaced the old Whiting beach of years ago. Things have changed quite a bit, but the citizens of Whiting and visitors from all over “The Region” still come to enjoy the sun, sand, swimming, trails, concerts, picnics and green grass of our most popular destination, Whiting Park.