Amelia Park Bridge considered for national registry
By ROWENA PLETT
Reporter / photographer
Amelia Park Bridge, one-half mile west of U.S.-56/77 on 257th Street, was built in 1914. The bridge is being considered by the Kansas Historic Site committee for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.
Nothing has been done to the bridge to change it in any way. The 55-foot-long concrete arch bridge is 17.4 feet wide. The unique vase-shaped balusters that support the concrete railing still are intact.
Inscribed in the concrete are names of county commissioners J.A. Unruh, F.A. Loveless, and O. Jolliffe, and county clerk B. B. Reimer. The name of the company that built the bridge, Topeka Bridge and Iron Co., also is inscribed.
Amelia Park Bridge is located on a dirt road used mainly by farmers and oil company employees. The little-known bridge is so-named because it is at the site of Amelia Park, a once-upon-a-time popular gathering place under tall deciduous trees along the east side of Clear Creek.
A front page article in the July 7, 1921, issue of Marion Review, described a Fourth of July gathering there, at which time the park was christened in honor of Amelia Wight, wife of G.H. (Henry) Wight, a large cattle rancher who created the park.
Many other Fourth of Julys were held at the park. Double-headers were played on a well-kept and often used ball field associated with the park. It was north across the road on the west side of the bridge.
Arch O'Bryant, a Wichita Eagle reporter originally from this area, called Amelia Park "one of the prettiest picnic places in Kansas." He recalled swimming with other boys in the cold creek water.
Marjorie Nienstedt, 91, has spent most of her life at Antelope, just one-half mile southwest of Amelia Park. She recalled the park as a site for picnics, swimming, and fishing. It had a bath house and a bandstand, and there were swings for the children.
The concrete base of the bandstand still remains. Like a lone sentinel, a tall, stone post topped with a large square concrete block guards the entrance to the park. It contains an inscription indicating it was erected in 1917 as a flood marker.
The headquarters of Henry Wight's Island Field Ranch, located on the same section as Amelia Park, already is on the National Register of Historic Places. Judy (Loveless) Houdyshell and her husband, Roy, own the 11-acre homestead and live in the original ranch house located along U.S.-56/77 just north of 250th.
Houdyshell said an old-timer once told her that a marriage proposal was made on the bridge, and the woman accepted.
Over time, the park fell into disuse. However, in 1971, 50 years after the naming of the park, members of the community decided to clean it up and conduct an Antelope Luau.
According to a report in a September 1971 issue of Marion County Record, at least 300 people attended the event.
Two hogs, each dressing out at more than 300 pounds, were roasted over an open pit of coals for the occasion. The hogs were provided by the Dody and Garrard families.
According to Houdyshell, more luaus were held in later years: "We'd play bluegrass music and eat till late in the night by the fire."
She said Girl Scouts once camped there.
Henry Wight was Houdyshell's great-great-grandfather. Wight's daughter, Henrietta, married Ed Loveless. Ed's father, Frank, was county commissioner when the bridge was built.
Houdyshell, who filed the original application for the bridge, said she has been told that architecturally, not many bridges of that design are left. She wants to ensure that the bridge will be kept in good repair and will not be destroyed.
