Canton’s Nimisilla Park has a long and storied past.
The park, which is often used today for family reunions and an annual Juneteenth event, used to have bandstands, a horse track and even a zoo, said Doug Foltz, director of Canton Parks and Recreation.
“This area was really a hub of many family and recreational activities for many years,” Foltz said.
The area was used for the Stark County Fair from 1859 to 1893, before becoming a city park.
On a recent sunny afternoon, Foltz pointed out the vacant land that used to be a zoo.
“It had bear pits … elk, you had buffalo over in the open areas over here,” Foltz said. “Eagles, you had lions, you had the monkey area.”
In 1880, the park was the site of a Civil War soldiers’ reunion that drew 40,000 people and featured speeches from President Rutherford B. Hayes and two future presidents: General James A. Garfield and Major William McKinley, he said.
A Socialist presidential candidate later spoke here, too.
“In 1918, Eugene Debs gave a talk here against World War I, and he was arrested [for] his comments here,” Foltz said. “So, there’s been a lot of history.”
Debs was arrested and charged with violating the Sedition Act for his anti-war comments. He would later run for president from his federal prison cell.
In the 1920s or 1930s, brick pathways were built all across Nimisilla Park, but they became overgrown and fell into disrepair as Canton expanded over the years, Foltz said.
Eventually, they became completely covered up by grass, Foltz said.
The parks department unearthed some of them last year with the help of some old maps, Foltz said.
“It helped us figure out, ‘OK, we've got kind of a map. Let's just keep following along with our Bobcat and our brushes and see what we can do,’” Foltz said. “There’s probably a few we have yet to uncover.”
Foltz plans to continue uncovering them over the next few years.
“I love the history of it. It's like we're uncovering something … people used 100 years ago and we're going to use it again,” Foltz said. “Don't just bury your history, you now? Find it and then celebrate it.”
Foltz plans to fix them up and create a new and improved walking path.
“Someone did the labor-intensive thing of putting these bricks in. So why leave them covered with grass?” Foltz said. “Let's invite the public to enjoy walking on them again, as they did thousands of times, probably the last hundred years or so.”
Preserving Canton’s history is one of his big goals as director of the parks department, he said.
“Restore historically the things that we have, appreciate them, and share the history so other generations come forward and enjoy the many memories that were created here,” Foltz said.
The brick pathways aren’t the only historic structures being restored for future use.
This week, Canton officials are unveiling the recently renovated Timken Gatehouse. Built in 1911, the structure served as the eastern entrance to the Timken mansion. Now, the city plans to rent it out for community events and private gatherings, Foltz said.
