Way Back Wednesday in Calhoun County---April 11-17

Passing by Zinn Park, have you ever wondered how the Anniston Park System came about? It was an idea when the city was founded but took many years for it to come to fruition. When Samuel Noble planned his “Model City” in the 1880s, he envisioned a town that was an industrial power but also a utopia. His model city was to have stately homes on the east side of town and industry to the west where the workers would settle. The residential areas would be just to the east of the bustling downtown and include a botanical park. This vision never materialized.

Sam Noble’s vision of Quintard Avenue becoming a botanical garden. The city did not grow to the west like he predicted but rather to the east. Why did this occur…. because on August 13, 1888 Samuel Noble passed away. Sam had been a guiding force in the development and expansion of Anniston and now he was gone. What would become of his plans for the “Model City”.

Post-1888 Anniston did manage to implement some of the Noble vision but not in the form Sam planned. The northern industrialists Sam had recruited to invest in his new town picked up the mantle and continued. The town grew after some rocky times during the financial panic of the late 19th Century; but the parks that Sam had wanted did not come until the Early 20th Century.

The heart of Anniston was a grassy area between 13th and 14th Street near the railroad tracks. When a new resident to Anniston disembarked the train and entered the city through the Union Depot, they saw the five-story Queen Anne-style Anniston Inn to the left, the three-story elaborate brick structure that housed the Anniston City Land Company to the right and this large grassy area directly in front.

It was not until the passing of Colonel William Henry Zinn in 1924 that the large grassy area in front of Union Depot found its purpose. Colonel Zinn left a large sum of money in his will for the establishment of a city park on two square blocks between 13th and 15th Streets. The Anniston Inn had burned the previous year so the land was available for redevelopment. The Anniston City Land Company sold the large land-track to the city and a park was established named for its benefactor, W. H. Zinn.

Colonel Zinn left additional funds in his will for a park to be developed in the African-American Community in West Anniston and another park for the residents of South Anniston. In October 1924, the Anniston Park Board was organized and both Quintard Avenue and Glenwood Terrace listed as parks. A few years later the park system of Anniston was well established with five parks and a golf course. By the mid-1950s, the park system included 10 parks with numerous amenities and five city pools.

Zinn Park started as a place for children to play but over time has turned into not only a playground but also a meeting center for numerous events in downtown Anniston. In a few weeks, the park will host the Knox Outdoors Series, another Anniston invention.

To learn more about the history of Calhoun County pick up a copy of Images of America: Calhoun County (ISBN 978-0738589985), Anniston (ISBN 978-0738506012), or Anniston Revisited (ISBN 978-1467114752) by Kimberly O’Dell.