Encyclopedia Dubuque
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KIMBEL PARK: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:kpark.png|left|thumb|300px|A summer day along the river at Kimbel Park.]]Attendance at the park declined with the development of [[UNION PARK]] and [[EAGLE POINT PARK]]. Shortly after the death of Richard Kimbel, the park was sold. The federal government purchased the site before construction on the [[ZEBULON PIKE LOCK AND DAM]]. (11) It is now submerged below the waters above Lock and Dam 11. (12) | [[Image:kpark.png|left|thumb|300px|A summer day along the river at Kimbel Park.]]Attendance at the park declined with the development of [[UNION PARK]] and [[EAGLE POINT PARK]]. Shortly after the death of Richard Kimbel, the park was sold. The federal government purchased the site before construction on the [[ZEBULON PIKE LOCK AND DAM]]. (11) It is now submerged below the waters above Lock and Dam 11. (12) | ||
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Revision as of 04:21, 28 May 2017
KIMBEL PARK. Located north of the present ZEBULON PIKE LOCK AND DAM, Kimbel Park was named by Richard KIMBEL. He immediately began the construction of a dock, a building for his company, saloon, huge dance hall, and a thirteen-room home for his growing family. (1)
Residents of Dubuque paid five cents each way for a ride aboard Kimbel's steamer "Eagle Point" to the park. (2) In 1908 the ferry launch "Cora May" operated daily trips from Dubuque. (3) Each week offered free attractions. One of the most popular shows involved a hypnotist who buried a willing subject six feet underground on a Thursday and then returned on Saturday to excavate him. The subject, a bit shaky when dug up, survived burial in good shape by using a breathing tube. (4) He received twenty-four dollars for his participation. Kimbel also offered the sight of two pure white horses plunging thirty feet into the MISSISSIPPI RIVER. (5) Open to many forms of entertainment, Kimbel even hosted boxing matches. (6) In 1906 the journeymen barbers of Dubuque hosted their employers to a picnic. On Wednesday, weekends, and holidays free fish was served to the patrons of the tavern with their order. (7) The newspaper account noted the presence of "every game known to the ingenuity of respectable manhood." (8)
Dance bands provided music to those willing to pay five cents per dance. (9) At other times, a dance would be scheduled for which the men paid fifty cents for admittance while women paid nothing. (10) Many brawls erupted between those involved in the shell games, but Kimbel never used police to maintain order. Physically tough, Kimbel also was known to occasionally use a gun to restore order.
Attendance at the park declined with the development of UNION PARK and EAGLE POINT PARK. Shortly after the death of Richard Kimbel, the park was sold. The federal government purchased the site before construction on the ZEBULON PIKE LOCK AND DAM. (11) It is now submerged below the waters above Lock and Dam 11. (12)
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Source:
1. Dahlinger, Mark. "Shoot-Em-Up Shell Games in the Mid-Mississippi," Telegraph Herald, July 15, 1956, p. 19
2. Kruse, Len. " George Kimbel, Man of the River," My Old Dubuque. Loras College: Center for Dubuque History, 2000, p. 191
3. "The City in Brief," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, June 24, 1908, p. 5. Online: http://p8080-10.30.40.140.ezproxy.dubuque.lib.ia.us/ResCarta-Web/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=76d75574-3467-4ecf-9df4-c2b7da149f1e/ResCarta/00000008/00000361
4. Kimbel's Park. Online: http://www.port-byron.com/captain-richard-kimbel/
5. Ibid.
6. "Caught on the Fly," Dubuque Herald, August 13, 1896, p. 5. Online: http://p8080-10.30.40.140.ezproxy.dubuque.lib.ia.us/ResCarta-Web/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=76d75574-3467-4ecf-9df4-c2b7da149f1e/ResCarta/00000003/00000121
7. Jungblut, Lyn Klavitter. "Captain Richard Adam Kimbel," Unpublished family history.
8. "Lather Distributors Glad," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, July 31, 1906, p. 5
9. Dahlinger
10. "Local News in Brief," Dubuque Daily Herald, September 4, 1890, p. 4
11. Dahlinger
12. Kruse, Len. p. 190