Behind the public library | Created: 1912 | Lost: 1957-58

The Eveleth Public Library and Central Park, circa 1915. From the Eveleth Public Library archives.

Looking at the back of the library from Turtle Pond, circa 1920. From the Eveleth Public Library archives.

​Beautification of the six-acre site, formerly a cow pasture and garbage dump, began in August 1912. City Parks Superintendent James A. Spurrier planted trees and designed landscaping that converted the former dump “into a little Garden of Eden,” in the words of Mrs. George Perham. Rather than fill in the divots and knolls, Spurrier worked with the land and created what became known as Turtle Pond in the center of the park. The City spent $9,000 creating the park, which included walking paths, benches, and a fence surrounding the whole block.

Central Park was renamed Memorial Park after World War I, and fifteen elm trees were planted in 1925 as a memorial to Eveleth men who lost their lives in the conflict. Eveleth Post 221 of the American Legion obtained an eight-inch German howitzer to display in the park until it was sold for scrap during World War II. In a 1947 Eveleth News-Clarion article about the history of the library, George McCormick recalled foot races were held on Pierce Street and around the park during holidays. A $5,000 band shell at the south end of the park was built in 1928, and the Eveleth Municipal Band often performed there. The Chamber of Commerce once had an office to the left of the stage.

Most of the park has been taken over by Fitzgerald Nursing Home and Rehab, originally the Eveleth Fitzgerald Community Hospital.

May 30, 1925 Duluth Herald

The Eveleth Fitzgerald Community Hospital was built in the middle of what had been Memorial Park in 1958.