Institution

This park's origins go back to the city's first professional urban plan created by noted landscape architect W. H. Dunn. The plan called for a boulevard encircling the edge of the city dotted with parks and lined with trees. Anchoring the boulevard in each quadrant were large city parks for recreation. The city council approved the plan in 1909 and park commissioner Will H. Clark put it into action. We still have all four of the original big parks - Woodson Park (Southwest), Trosper Park (Southeast), Will Rogers Park (Northwest), and this one, Lincoln Park.When the land for this park was purchased in 1909, it was by far the largest park in the city's history. The sprawling 744 acres originally called Northeast Park encompassed numerous homesteads and would have been unrecognizable to us today. One observer said, "For those who come to the park with the preconceived notion of Oklahoma as the country of the plains, there is little unbroken plain about it. It is rough. There are hills and valleys and plains and plateaus and streams all set under green growth." Ninety-acre Northeast Lake was the first development in the park. There is an elevated road over the dam today, but the original design featured a spillway that sent streams of water over the roadway for cars to wade through.

"... a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." - Abraham Lincoln

Stop #2 Lincoln Park - East

This ride may be challenging for less experienced urban riders because much of the area lacks sidewalks or signaled intersections. Much of the route is through urban woods and have the character of country lanes. 

The full route is 16.5 miles, half of which is the limited access Katy Trail. The northern portion is 7.8 miles and can be experienced in a separate loop which only includes a portion of the Katy Trail.

Difficult spots will be near the Zoo at MLK Ave and Grand Blvd/NE 50; and the final leg of the ride which is a half mile on NE 36, uphill with no sidewalks.

Although it was the last of the major railroads to build into Oklahoma City, the Katy was the first railroad to traverse Oklahoma when it won the right to build across Indian Territory in 1871. The Katy arrived here in 1903 and built their passenger and freight depots at Walnut and Reno in Bricktown where today's Harkins Bricktown Theater is located. From there the rails connected Oklahoma City with the wider MK&amp;T rail network that built extensively in the states listed in its name.The Katy had two paths through eastern Oklahoma City - one a diagonal route which still has tracks in place, and another that looped around the old Fairgrounds (where Douglass High School is now located). Today's Katy trail follows the eastern loop near Douglass Park and crosses the old tracks on NE 4th and NE 16th. Above NE 16th you'll ride right alongside the old tracks all the way to the Oklahoma Railroad Museum which is build along a siding near NE 36th. As you breeze along the trail, imagine fast moving passenger trains like "The Katy Flyer", the "Bluebonnet" and the "Firefly" zooming along the nearby rails. Above NE 36th, the trail leaves the old railroad along Grand Boulevard and into Lincoln Park up to NE 50th.The Katy applied for the right to abandon its rails in 1974 and although it took several years to stop rail service, a trail on the old roadbed was proposed by the Oklahoma Legislature as early as 1975.

The Katy Trail derives its name from the initials of the Missouri, Kansas &amp; Texas Railroad which was abbreviated in in rail timetables as MKT. Try saying that real fast three times and you'll find yourself saying, "Katy" before you know it (that's called eliding, by the way). The trail follows part of the abandoned railbed of the Katy tracts through northeast Oklahoma City and was part of a 2000 rails-to-rails initiative for the Oklahoma City Parks Department.

Stop #1 Washington Park - Katy Trailhead

In the 1920s the first golf course was landscaped and the Zoo was built on the north end after being relocated from Wheeler Park. The lake was a popular spot for fishing and in the coldest winters people ice skated on its surface. As you explore the park, you will spot some of the best examples of WPA architecture in the city - the amphitheater, the picnic grounds east of the lake, and the old lake bathhouse which is now home to the Zoozeum. You can also still see a National Park Service-inspired sign at the west entrance to the park. In later years, some of the park land became home to many museums in the Adventure District.The south part of the park below NE 36th was used for charitable homes like the country girls' farm and the Union Soldiers Home, a retirement home for veterans of the Civil War. It was these old soldiers who gave the park the name we know today when they petitioned the city council to name it in honor of President Abraham Lincoln. The home is still standing a few blocks south of the golf course and if you would like to honor those men who fought to save the Union, you can visit the nearby Union Soldiers Cemetery.

A few years after the park opened streetcars brought thousands of visitors from the city. Over several decades the park transformed as the playground we know it as today.

Stop #3 Lincoln Park - West

Ezel Willie Perry, Sr. was born in a log cabin in Mississippi in 1882. He brought his family to Oklahoma City in 1915 when he became the pastor of the city's historic Tabernacle Baptist Church. Perry earned a national reputation as a great speaker and orator and was known for his strong messages of peace and brotherhood. He served as president of the Oklahoma Baptist Convention and vice president of the National Baptist Convention for 47 years and in 1949, he became the first African American to address the Southern Baptist Convention. During his fifty plus years at Tabernacle, he was an inspiration for the civil rights leaders of the 1950s and 1960s and showed unwavering dedication to making Oklahoma a better place for all people. The park was named for Rev. E. W. Perry in the 1970s.

"As I stood there in front of the crowd, I realized how Reverend E. W. Perry had paved the streets of opportunity for us." - Clara Luper

Stop #4 E. W. Perry Park

Lacy began his working life as a school principal, but after nine years he left to found a bank that made it possible for working people to get housing loans. Later he formed a second bank called Friendly National Bank because he believed friendliness was the single greatest quality a person could have. Lacy was active in no fewer than a dozen community organizations, often serving in leadership roles, including more than a decade on the city park board. Throughout his many decades as a leader, L. D. Lacy never had a desk or a private office - because he didn't think offices were very friendly.L. D. Lacy donated the land for this park to the City of Oklahoma City for use as a park and the city council named it in his honor in appreciation.

Lester Daniel Lacy was a natural leader with boundless energy for improving the lives of his friends and neighbors. And for L. D. Lacy that meant everyone in Oklahoma City.

Stop #5 L. D. Lacy Park

During the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Charles A. McNabb was the farmer representing Oklahoma's exhibit. For the upcoming Oklahoma Day at the Fair, McNabb sent word back home to send 100 watermelons weighing 100 or more pounds so he could show off Oklahoma agriculture. When the reply came that there were no watermelons of that size in the state, McNabb wired back, "Pinch off all the buds except a couple off the vine. Give the roots plenty of water." He got his 100 melons for Oklahoma Day.C. A. McNabb came to Oklahoma City on the day of the Land Run, but he preferred to arrive at the end of the day because he brought with him two railroad cars full of flour and lumber, both of which were in great need in the new city. He sold all the product in a manner of hours and used the money to buy property and he is widely believed to have been the first merchant store in Oklahoma City.McNabb had a head for business, but he was a genius at farming; what we would call an agricultural scientist today. McNabb gave freely of his knowledge and traveled all over the Twin Territories giving talks and showing farmers how to get more productivity from their labors. Naturally, he was the perfect choice for Territorial Secretary of Agriculture and he excelled in that role as well, helping to establish Oklahoma A &amp; M (OSU) and creating what became the school's Extension Service for horticulture. In hopes of beautifying the city he began the Civic Improvement Club which became a foundational part of the city park system.The land for this park was once part of the 80-acre nursery where C. A. McNabb grew fruit and shade trees. When he reached retirement age, McNabb converted the nursery to the McNabb Park neighborhood and donated the land for this park. Look around the neighborhood and you may see some unusual arrangements of streets and houses. That's because the neighborhood was designed by the famous landscape architect Goerge Kessler. The diagonal street on the east side of this park was once a streetcar line that took people from Downtown to Springlake Amusement Park and to Lincoln Park and the Zoo.Ever busy even in retirement, C. A. McNabb and his wife Caroline moved to Ventura, California and opened a flower shop.

"C. A. McNabb is one of the city's live, wide awake, happy, generous, energetic, well-doing citizens."

Stop #6 McNabb Park

The park was added to the school site fifteen years later in 1952. The land was originally the homestead of Smith Dolliver who acquired the land in the Land Run of 1889. If you peek at the back of the park on the south edge you may spy some oil storage tanks. These tanks are remnants of the gigantic Oklahoma City Oil Field and if you were to visit the site in the 1930s and 1940s you would see derricks reaching as far as your eye could see.

This park derives its name from nearby Northeast High School which was hailed as a modern masterpiece of design when it was constructed in 1937. Built at the height of the Great Depression, the school is one of five public buildings erected with money from the Public Works Administration that year, joining City Hall, the county courthouse, the police station, and Civic Center Music Hall.

Stop #7 Northeast Park

The Phillips 66 Petroleum Company owned this parkland and maintained oil facilities on site until 1956 when they cleaned the area and donated it to the city for a neighborhood park. In gratitude for the gift they named the park in the company's honor.

The land where this park lies was once the Land Run homestead of Frank D. Smith, a Pennsylvanian who made the run in 1889. His family farm would have been unrecognizable by the 1930s when oil was discovered in northeast Oklahoma City and derricks dotted the landscape.

Stop #8 Phillips Park

Although it was the last of the major railroads to build into Oklahoma City, the Katy was the first railroad to traverse Oklahoma when it won the right to build across Indian Territory in 1871. The Katy arrived here in 1903 and built their passenger and freight depots at Walnut and Reno in Bricktown. Today’s Harkins Bricktown Theater is located. From there the rails connected Oklahoma City with the wider MK&amp;T rail network that built extensively in the states listed in its name.The Katy had two paths through eastern Oklahoma City – one a diagonal route which still has tracks in place, and another that looped around the old Fairgrounds (where Douglass High School is now located). Today’s Katy trail follows the eastern loop near Douglass Park and crosses the old tracks on NE 4 and NE 16. Above NE 16 you’ll ride right alongside the old tracks all the way to the Oklahoma Railroad Museum which is built on a siding near NE 36. As you breeze along the trail, imagine fast moving passenger trains with romantic names like “The Katy Flyer”, the “Bluebonnet” and the “Firefly” zooming along the nearby rails. Above NE 36, the trail leaves the old railroad along Grand Boulevard and into Lincoln Park up to NE 50.The Katy applied for the right to abandon its rails in 1974 and although it took several years to stop rail service, a trail on the old roadbed was proposed by the Oklahoma Legislature as early as 1975.

The Katy Trail derives its name from the initials of the Missouri, Kansas &amp; Texas Railroad which was abbreviated in rail timetables as MKT. Try saying that real fast three times and you’ll find yourself saying, “Katy” before you know it (that’s called eliding, by the way). The trail follows part of the abandoned railbed of the Katy tracks through northeast Oklahoma City and was part of a 2000 rails-to-trails initiative for the Oklahoma City Parks Department.

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Katy Trail Parks

Stop #2 Lincoln Park - East

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