Page 82 - Rukert - 100th Anniversary

I WONDER PARK
IN HIS BOOK HISTORIC CANTON, NORMAN RUKERT SR. TELLS THE TALE OF A LOST WATERFRONT SITE THAT EXISTED BETWEEN RUKERT TERMINALS’ PIER 5 AND
“C” PIER. In 1901, Mr. John Williams, a long-term resident of South Clinton Street, laid out a small park on a piece of land across the street from his tavern. This miniature park on a bluff overlooked the harbor and commanded a wonderful view of Fort McHenry. One reporter noted, “If your backyard is small, you might put the park in it and still have room for a row of rosebushes.” Mr. Williams planted flower beds and a hedge along the curb. He also added chairs and a bench for the park. Every morning, Mr. Williams raised the American flag to the top of a pole he installed on the spot.
Longshoremen and factory workers, including Norman Sr., ate lunch and played horseshoes in the park. In its heyday, visitors took refuge from the summer heat under six large mulberry trees that had been donated by a friend of Mr. Williams named Charlie. The children who played in the park called him “Charlie- Got-Your-Shoes-On-Wrong” because he changed his shoes from one foot to the other each day to keep them straight.
The area had no official name but came to be known as “I Wonder Park,” perhaps because onlookers were perplexed by the tiny oasis of green in a heavy industrial zone. Mr. Williams kept a herd of goats to trim the grass and weeds in the unofficial park, until he was forced to sell them when one head-butted a railroad official. The park was once featured in the Ripley’s Believe It or Not syndicated newspaper column as the smallest park in the world. In 1941, the Maritime Commission leased the park land and built an office on the site, leaving I Wonder Park nothing but a fond memory.
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