A tale of two ditches at Linden City Park
This is the story of two drainage ditches at Linden City Park. They are fronting the concession area at the foot of the newly terraced and park grounds.
One is of white stones, the other of iron ore rock. One is six months old, the other is in the neighborhood of a century old. At the moment, they are both cleared and clean. But it’s easy for Mother Nature to grow her grass and wood and, if upkeep is neglected, cover up these ditches.
Two wooden bridges allow one to cross from one side to the other. Stand atop one and look to see both the new white rock ditch on one side and the iron ore rock on the other. Remain quiet for a moment, and it’s easy to recall a memory or two.
The history of the iron ore ditch is that it was made by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in early times of the 1930’s era. The white rock ditch was made recently by the A.L. Franks Engineering company of Texarkana, Arkansas,
contractor for the storm drain and retention pond work. The $2 million storm drainage project now nearing its finish.
Lee Elliott, Linden city administrator, credits Allie Anderson, assistant city administrator, city secretary and director of community development, for her lead in keeping the iron ore rock ditch and its juncture of the two ditches.
“We talked with the contractor about leaving the almost century old iron ore ditch as it is and as a reminder of a day gone by. That’s what a park should do, too. The contractor agreed, made repairs to the iron ore sides, and now we have the two examples of drains running past the city park floor,” Anderson said.
The Civilian Conservation Corps at Linden built 35 miles of roads with 25 bridges and run 147 miles of telephone line while employing hundreds. The corps was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and its efforts to offer unemployed people a job to work on public projects.