Ruskin Park

Ruskin Park. ½ Mile South. Ruskin Park was synonymous with excitement, entertainment and romance from its inception. , The area's first pioneers settled along the James River near here in 1873. The Santee and Rodee families homesteaded south of here near a large grove (Rodee's Grove), where picnics, political rallies and community gatherings were held. , In 1902 Hiram A. Rodee Jr. cleared part of the grove and built a two story hotel, a lunchroom, stables and other buildings; erected a large canvas auditorium; and named the park after poet and naturalist John Ruskin. Special trains brought thousands of people to this site, the park entrance depot. People built or rented cottages and tents for summer camping. Chautauquas, plays, programs, meetings and picnics soon made Ruskin Park the cultural and entertainment center of Sanborn County., In 1910 Robert E. Dowdell and Ben H. Millard purchased the park and made further improvements, adding a theater, forty cabins and one of the fastest on mile race tracks around, still visible on satellite images. Over the years, many local and nationally famous bands played to hundreds in the glass dance pavilion., Later park proprietors were Marion C. Dowdell, 1930-1949; Don Shaw, 1949-1954; and Walter and Dagmar Siegenthaler, 1954-1968.