Carlsbad Celebrates History While Creating It

By Misty Cryer

The City of Carlsbad recently issued an invitation to the grand opening of the History Garden and the renaming of the Carlsbad Hall of Fame in honor of Mayor Dale Janway.

This community gathering will take place on Friday, May 8, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 418 W. Fox St., the address of the Carlsbad Museum.

The celebration of the dedication of the Halagueño Arts Park History Garden, highlighting the unveiling of five bronze busts that honor early founders of the town, marks the completion of the four building phases of Halagueño Arts Park, Julia Heaton explained.

“There is still much more to be accomplished in the Park with plans for more artwork, more performing arts events, an automated walking tour of the artists and art, and much more, which will be at the forefront of the HAP Advisory Board’s future agenda,” she said.

The founders recognized in the History Garden are significant to the founding of the township of Eddy and the development of a library, museum, and park for the community. The history presented is a summary, based on the extensive research Heaton gathered and shared.

The vision of a park in the center of town began years before the Halagueño Arts Park development project was started, even before the township of Eddy was renamed Carlsbad in 1899.

Charles B. Eddy deeded a tract of land that had an underground water source very close to the surface to the town of Eddy in 1889. He is credited with naming the tract Halagueño Park after his ranch. “His intent was to give a tract of land so the people of Eddy could have a nice park in the center of the town,” said Heaton.

Seven years later, in 1896, Joseph Stevens granted a tract of land adjacent to the tract given by Eddy. These two tracts marked the beginning of what is now known as Halagueño Arts Park.

“In the frontier lands, where people were creating towns, the men would generally find economically favorable land, then bring their families to a place where very few, if any, cultural edifices existed,” said Heaton. “The women, joined occasionally by a fair-minded man, usually began the process of establishing churches, parks, schools, and libraries,” she said.

Jennie Lathrop Pratt is credited with the first concept for a public library in the town of Eddy. Heaton described her as a pioneer, educator, civic leader, and cultural visionary who became one of the earliest teachers in Eddy and was very active in the community.

In 1897, Pratt was elected the first president of the Research Circle, a women’s group that evolved into the Literary Club, and eventually the Women’s Club. This group of women, Heaton said, started a little library together, and they were given a room in the courthouse to house it. When a certain Mrs. Crosby agreed to donate 500 books if the library was named after her son, the Norman Crosby Library Association was created. In 1908, this library combined with the Women’s Club Reading Room, movied nto a two-room frame structure in Halagueño Park.

Olive Elizabeth Clark Tracey was also a civic leader and cultural force, said Heaton. She was a very determined lady and an educated woman, committed to education, the arts, and public service. She was a founder of many civic organizations and, for many years, chaired the Art Appreciation Class. “She is credited with giving the first book to the fledgling library begun by the Women’s Club,” said Heaton.

Flora Stokes Ryan was a pioneer resident of Eddy. She was the second paid librarian who took over when Dorothy Swigart resigned in 1929. Ryan remained in this position until 1952 and reportedly documented the hardships the early pioneers endured. “Her documentation brings to life what it took the early pioneers to carve out the lasting community that we enjoy today. The new library was built under her stewardship and became a real library institution,” said Heaton.

Oliver Quin is not recognized as a founder but played a significant role. “As a City Alderman in the 1920s, he was the driving force for building the first formal library in the park,” said Heaton. Quin wanted to build a second floor to create a museum, though the idea was opposed by the librarian, Flora Ryan, and the library trustees.

“Quin persevered, and a beautiful two-story pueblo-style building, designed by architect M.L. McAtee, was built in 1930,” said Heaton. Thanks to these founders, Carlsbad had a beautiful library and museum in the center of Halagueño Park.

Photos Courtesy of SENM Historical Society, www.lovingsbend.net