Dorner Park
About This Location
Dorner’s Park at 858 South Clay Street, is another great recreational facility in our community. Filled with playground equipment, basketball courts, horseshoe pits, shuffleboard courts, and tennis courts, Dorner’s Park also has a tree species identification area.
After years of kids running through his house and needing a place to play, George Dorner used his privately owned farmland to start the Park in 1941, dedicating it to his wife, Pearl. That same year, Purdue helped with exotic flowerbeds. In 1950, the arboretum was dedicated, with construction starting in the 1960s with the help of Bob Ness. The construction included a gazebo that Dorner’s granddaughter, Nancy and her brothers and cousins built on an existing cement pad. Dorner used to keep a pigeon coop there.
An original bike track surrounding the park grounds was moved to Alhambra Avenue. Prior to passing away in 1950, Dorner willed the land to his daughter who then willed it to her daughter, Nancy. Eventually, the land was sold to the City, with officials constructing north horseshoe courts between 1951 and 1953 and south horseshoe courts in the 1960s. The pits were later dedicated to Curtis Day in the early 1970s, shortly after his induction into the National Horseshoe Pitchers Hall of Fame as a national horseshoe champion, including an 18-time Indiana state champion and a three-time world winner.