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City keeps its promise to honor Van Dorn Park donor, 100 years later

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A Lee Enterprises, Incorporated newspaper. Majority shareholder: David Hoffmann, Hoffmann Media Group.

Editor's Pick Alert Top Story

VAN DORN PARK

City keeps its promise to honor Van Dorn Park donor, 100 years later

1 of 4

Van Dorn Park marker

The city is installing a plaque dedicated to William Van Dorn to recognize him for his donation of park land more than 100 years ago.

Van Dorn Park, 11.12

The city's Parks and Recreation Department has taken a few acres of Van Dorn Park to store soil, mulch and other materials for use across the city.

Van Dorn Park in 1940, before the extension of 10th Street shaved off its eastern edge, and before the park grew to the west.

The success of the volunteer-built mountain bike trail at Van Dorn Park resulted in a master plan for a series of trails across the city.

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Peter Salter

William T. Van Dorn saw the promise in Lincoln years before the village was even a dot on the territorial map.

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This photo of William T. Van Dorn was published in The Sunday Nebraska State Journal, May 9, 1915, and also in the Lincoln Daily News on May 10 that year under the title "Romance of a Pioneer."

COURTESY PHOTO

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In 1940, the Evening State Journal reminded the city it hadn't kept its promise to William Van Dorn's estate.

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Diane Walkowiak, a member of the Indian Village Neighborhood Association, is an advocate for Van Dorn Park, including her efforts to get a play structure. "I brought a child into the world in less time than it took to get the swing set put in the park," she said.

EAKIN HOWARD, Journal Star

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Mountain bike trail to give new life to one of Lincoln's older parks

Lincoln's newest mountain bike loop could be ready to ride by the end of the weekend.

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Chris Van Dorn, great grandson of William T. Van Dorn, stands by the park's sign on May 29 of this year when he visited Lincoln for the first time.

WILLIAM WEHRBEIN , COURTESY PHOTO

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Download PDF Van Dorn Park plaque

The city's planned plaque honoring William Van Dorn. Courtesy image

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His Lincoln elevator is officially worthless, but owner won’t let go

The former grain elevator on South Sixth Street could be the county's only officially worthless commercial property with a building on it, the assessor said.

‘Grand old tree’ to keep its roots at Pioneers Golf Course

12 iconic Lincoln signs and statues

Aerial view of LCF Tower Square

Aerial view of Tower Square at 13th and P streets.

PHOTO BY DON FARRALL/Light-Works Studio

Chief Standing Bear & iconic words on wall

Sculptor Benjamin Victor's bronze Chief Standing Bear sculpture, with his iconic words etched in the wall behind him, was unveiled Oct. 15, 2017, between P and Q streets on Centennial Mall.

PHOTO BY JOHN SCHWANINGER

Berringer-Osborne statue

A statue of Tom Osborne and quarterback Brook Berringer stands outside Memorial Stadium at the entrance to the Osborne Athletic Complex.

Journal Star file photo

Links

The Links statue at Lincoln High School.

Courtesy photo

Lincoln Children's Zoo sign

John Chapo, Lincoln Children's Zoo executive director, inspects the framework of the zoo's sign near the camel exhibit in 2012 at Lincoln Children's Zoo.

GWYNETH ROBERTS/Lincoln Journal Star

Archie at Morrill Hall

Archie, the life-size bronze replica of an ancient Nebraska mammoth at the University of Nebraska State Museum, gets his biennial wash from J.R. Elkins (left) and Colby Cochran of G and M Window Services in 2012 in front of Morrill Hall in Lincoln. Patterned after the giant fossil skeleton on display in the museum's Elephant Hall, the statue is 15 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 5,000 pounds -- considerably less than the 15-ton mass of the real Archie who roamed the Plains 30,000 years ago.

Journal Star file photo

Smoke Signal

"Smoke Signal," a 14-foot likeness of Chief Red Cloud, was erected in 1935 in Pioneers Park. 

GeorgeWright

Colossus

Artist James Tyler prepares to place a piece of "Groundwater Colossus" into place as his sculpture nears completion in Union Plaza Aug. 14, 2012. 

ERIC GREGORY/Journal Star file photo

Pioneers Park bison

The bison statue resides at the east entrance to Pioneers Park.

Journal Star file photo

Devaney Statue

A life-size statue of former football coach Bob Devaney at Memorial Stadium.

ANNA REED/Lincoln Journal Star

Legacy Deer

The Legacy deer is at Legacy Retirement Community, 5600 Pioneers.

TED KIRK/Journal Star file photo

Sower

Journal Star file photo

Reach the writer at 402-473-7254 or psalter@journalstar.com.

On Twitter @LJSPeterSalter

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Van Dorn Park, 07.22

Diane Walkowiak, a member of the Indian Village Neighborhood Association, is an advocate for Van Dorn Park, including her efforts to get a play structure. "I brought a child into the world in less time than it took to get the swing set put in the park," she said.

This photo of William T. Van Dorn was published in The Sunday Nebraska State Journal, May 9, 1915, and also in the Lincoln Daily News on May 10 that year under the title "Romance of a Pioneer."

In 1940, the Evening State Journal reminded the city it hadn't kept its promise to William Van Dorn's estate.

Chris Van Dorn, great grandson of William T. Van Dorn, stands by the park's sign on May 29 of this year when he visited Lincoln for the first time.

The city is installing a plaque dedicated to William Van Dorn to recognize him for his donation of park land more than 100 years ago.

The city's Parks and Recreation Department has taken a few acres of Van Dorn Park to store soil, mulch and other materials for use across the city.

Van Dorn Park in 1940, before the extension of 10th Street shaved off its eastern edge, and before the park grew to the west.

The success of the volunteer-built mountain bike trail at Van Dorn Park resulted in a master plan for a series of trails across the city.

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