Second Crossing of the Sheyenne, which would later become Valley City, was founded in 1872, and by 1880, B.W. Benson recognized the promise of this riverside land. He purchased it from the Northern Pacific Railroad for $150, imagining homes arranged around a shared green space, encircled by what would become Park Avenue. The city bought the land in 1883, choosing a park over commercial uses. City Park officially took shape that year and was the first municipal park in North Dakota.

In its early years, the park was more wild than welcoming. In 1906, the Civic Improvement League, led by Mrs. Frank White, organized raking parties and hauled wagonloads of tin cans and debris from the riverbanks. Gradually, paths opened, lawns appeared, and the park became a gathering place for baseball games, bowery dances, and band concerts.

In 1909, District Warden Robert Burt brought gray squirrels to the park. They quickly took hold, and before long, City Park became home to the largest population of gray squirrels in the state, but they did not stay put. The grays spread throughout town, chasing out the red squirrels and making themselves very much at home in Valley City.

By 1914, the park became even more remarkable, becoming North Dakota’s first zoo under Mayor Platou. Children met Pete the Bear and a mix of deer, elk, buffalo, and smaller animals. Pete lived here until his death in 1936, which marked the beginning of the end of the zoo. His sturdy cage later became the starting point for the Chahinkapa Zoo in Wahpeton.

At the heart of the park stood a fountain, the original centerpiece from the City Park’s earliest days. Removed in the 1970s, a new fountain, incorporating an element of the original design, was installed in 2012. Though later vandalized and still awaiting repair, many remember how good it felt to see the fountain flowing again.

City Park was also a winter playground. When the river froze, people skated beneath the walk bridge, played hockey on the ice, and warmed themselves in a nearby warming house. Dr. Spicer famously dropped a large rock from the bridge, and if it didn’t break through the ice, he deemed it safe for skating.

Over the decades, tennis courts helped launch future state champions, playgrounds and bridges came and went, floods reshaped the land, and music always found its way back. City Park remains a living record of Valley City itself, shaped by water, weather, and the people who made it their own.