Wardle Fields Regional Park

Wardle Fields Regional Park. A History of the Wardle Family Farm. The Wardle farm began as an 80-acre parcel which was originally worked by Isaac John Wardle Jr., who leased the property from W. Henry Wallace of Salt Lake City., Johnny Wardle began farming the property in the early 1900s growing alfalfa and barley. He eventually grew sugar beets. The land was hard to work because of the amount of rocks that were pushed to the surface by frost each winter., The farm was cut in half by the Utah Salt Lake Canal at about 3200 West and also by the Orem-Bamberger Railroad Line which was used to transport sugar beets from local farmers to the sugar factory in West Jordan. , In the 1930s, there was a terrible drought in the area. Many lost and abandoned their farms at that time, but Johnny was able to continue running his farm with irrigation water from the High Line canal. , In 1936, Johnny passed away and the farm was taken over by his son Charles Wyman Wardle, his wife Orel Ann, and their family, who continued to improve the farm. Charlie or Lyme, as everyone called him, expanded the farm by buying an additional 80 acres which allowed him to expand his farm a quarter of a section of property or 160 acres. , The farm was regarded and raised as much as 6 feet on the north, allowing the irrigation water to run from west to east rather than from north to south. Civil engineers told Charlie this would not be possible, but he knew it would be best to facilitate the water and slow the flow if he irrigated from the west to the east. It worked and the farm was very successful. , The Wardle farm not only benefited the Wardle family, but many other families from Riverton and Bluffdale also benefited from work opportunities provided by the very friendly, honest, and generous Charlie Wardle. Some of those families were the Crane, Hatch, and Hobbs families., During their lives, all of the Wardle sons and daughters spent much of their time helping out on the farm. Even when they were older and worked other jobs, everyone always came together to work on the farm at harvest time. In 1947, Charlie's son Harold moved his family to the farm where they lived in a white, two-room house without any plumbing. The house did have electricity and a coal burning cook stove, which also provided winter heat. , However, in the late 1950s Charlie contracted skin cancer. Selling the farm became a necessity, and the decision was made to sell the farm to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The hard work of the Wardle family made this farm one of the highest producing farms in the County. , (timeline on bottom:), Early 1900s - Isaac John Wardle Jr. begins farming land., 1936 - Charles Lyman Wardle takes over the farm., 1947 - Harold Wardle and family move to the farm., 1950s - Charles Lyman Wardle passes away. LDS Church purchases property., 2008 - Salt Lake County purchases property., 2014 - Park groundbreaking., Spring 2017 - Wardle Fields Regional Park grand opening., (sidebar:), A little about the park…, Wardle Fields Regional Park encompasses 80 total acres of land in Bluffdale City. Salt Lake County purchased the property from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2008, using funds from the 2006 Open Space Bond. Salt Lake County and Bluffdale City officials broke ground for the park on October 10, 2014. Funds from the 2012 Park Bond were used for Phase I construction of the park. , The park is home to a very unique destination playground and adventure splash pad, an incredible 300-foot-long bouldering wall, two racing zip-lines, a 25-foot-tall fire watchtower with slides, a 20-foot-tall climbing-net structure, spinning and swinging play features, soccer fields, pavilions, 16 pickleball courts, a full-size basketball court, and plenty of open space with sledding hills.