Wickersham Park

One of the most serene parks in town, Wickersham Park has changed little since its inception. On February 5th, 1932, the Argus Courier announced that Mrs. Thomas Maclay, formerly Miss Elizabeth Wickersham, left a block of land to the city for a park, along with a donation of fifteen thousand dollars. (Mr. Maclay later left an additional $10,000.) The gift of the land was valued at $65,000. The land had been sought for building projects for many years, but Mr. And Mrs. Wickersham had been content to use the lot to graze their milk cow. After the cow was stabled for the night, children used the fenced block to play ball.

It was Mrs. Maclay’s wish that the park commemorate her parents. Her father, I.G. Wickersham, had come to Petaluma after a disappointing experience in the gold rush, and opened the town’s first bank. Mrs. Wickersham had a formal garden and many roses at her D Street home, so Elizabeth stipulated that the park contain roses and benches. Initial plans for the park included a tennis court; it isn’t clear how and when that idea was abandoned.

Within a few years the park was under construction, having been designed by local landscape gardener and nurseryman J. Wallace Mann. The Works Progress Administration allocated $4,425.00 towards the expected $13,995 costs. A well, pump house, and restrooms were included. “Electroliers” – or electric lights – were a novelty for a park at the time.

At the same time as the park was being built, there was a local movement to provide playgrounds in the parks. The Promote Petaluma Playgrounds committee may have requested a playground at Wickersham, the local newspaper stated that there would be no playground, despite rumors. In this era, parks generally contained recreational areas, but this park, as a commemorative park envisioned by the donor, does not fit the expected mold. By 1948 the Argus Courier’s editor was promoting a new band shell for the park, along with playground. The proposal caused enormous controversy, with those who recalled Mrs. Wickersham’s stipulations crying foul. In the 1970s a group of elderly Italian men were granted permission to install a bocce court in the park. In 1984 the court fell into disuse and was removed. The same year the restrooms were removed, deemed too expensive and decayed to retain. Also in 1949, barbecue pits and picnic tables were proposed for the park but were not installed.

Volunteers from the Petaluma Garden Club maintained the roses for several years, planting new roses and pruning the roses annually. A small amount of money is still generated from the trust fund, and is used towards maintenance of the park.