At one time, Council Bluffs had the self-proclaimed smallest park in the country. The 32 square foot area was called Sloan’s Park and it was located at “100 Bryant Street” according to Council Bluffs city directories. The park was named after Thomas J. Sloan, the city jailer from about 1904 until 1921. According to the August 22, 1934 issue of the Daily Nonpareil, Sloan “spent a few moments each day [to care] for a little flower garden during his spare time while serving as a jailer” at the city jail, located at 22 Bryant Street. The land Sloan used for his garden was a small triangular patch on the northwest corner of Bryant and Vine streets. An article from July 17, 1919 contains a comment from Sloan that he “didn’t like the unsightliness of the bare spot so he planted it to flowers.”
In the late 1910s, the small garden became a park and was named “Sloan Park” in honor of Thomas Sloan’s efforts to beautify the area. A Daily Nonpareil article from May 26, 1921 noted that the city park board took over the task of maintaining the garden when Sloan retired from the police department in 1921. For that year, they planted “a circular plot of baby cactus right in the center of the park and a line of perpetuals toward the north end.” Canna lilies were also regularly planted in the park.
Henry Meyer (center), and Frank Peterson inspecting the plants.
Thomas J. Sloan passed away on May 7, 1937 but his name lived on through the park that he helped create, at least for a while anyway. On July 24, 1946, the Daily Nonpareil reported that Sloan Park would “soon disappear, along with the high brick wall around the city property at Bryant and Vine streets” to make way for public parking in the downtown area. An editorial in the Daily Nonpareil fondly remembered the establishment of Sloan Park and expressed surprise that it would be destroyed but conceded the need for more downtown parking. The article from July 27, 1946 stated that “[Sloan Park] has been a landmark for many years and a monument to ‘Dad’ Sloan such as he himself would have wished.”
However, Sloan Park stuck around a bit longer. An article from August 8, 1948 featured a photograph of the park overgrown with weeds. By this point, the park was no longer maintained by the city. The Water Works department had moved into the property near Sloan Park and jokingly added a “Don't pick the flowers” sign to tease the parks department. The last mention of the park in the city directories was in 1950. Interestingly, in a retrospective article from July 31, 1972, the Daily Nonpareil reported that the name of the park was “Sloane” and even included a photograph of the park with a sign saying as much (see the photo at the top of the page). All other sources reported the name as “Sloan Park” or “Sloan’s Park.”
Sources:
Council Bluffs city directories
Daily Nonpareil articles
Fire Insurance Maps Online