GENEROSITY and DIVERSITY in VOICES from the PAST

KEEP THE MOBILE PARKS OPEN! 

 

Liverpool, Habana, Dry Tortugas, …
Mrs. G. Calmes, Rickarby, Hamilton, Hank Aaron, Jimbo Mason …

In 1905, the Rickarby family gave their property to the City for park purposes only.
“… there was a Park house with restrooms …
One Hank Aaron and the other Jimbo Mason who grew up …

Malcolm Steiner concludes his short article with a plea to Mobilians
"Keep the parks open …"

Find City of Mobile Parks locations
Learn about Mobile Parks

Mr. Malcolm Steiner is a lifelong resident of the Port City. He is author of Old Mobile Restaurants (see icon below). Malcolm is a graduate of the University of Montevallo in Alabama and Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado where he studied writing with such luminaries as William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Ken Kesey.

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 “That square of ground bounded by Calmes, Rickarby, Canal and Cherokee Streets in the City of Mobile and being square seven of the Rickarby Tract as recorded in deed book 116 page 208 of the Probate records of Mobile County Alabama.”

The Rickarby family gave this property to the City of Mobile in November 1905 to have and to hold under the name of Rickarby Park for park purposes only and should the Park not be used as a park the Rickarby family and their heirs may re-enter and resume possession of the property.

Sarah Henrietta Calmes Rickarby • July 17, 1830 – Apr. 23, 1882. Wife of: George Duncan Rickarby • Sept 19, 1826 – April 17, 1900, from Liverpool England.

George Rickarby came to Mobile as a representative of an importing company in which he later became a partner. During the Civil War he engaged in blockade running in and out of various Southern ports and was later captured in Havana and the Dry Tortugas. After the war he returned to Mobile and engaged in farming.

He Sarah had obtained the Rickarby Tract property from Peter Hamilton in April 1862 for their home farm and pasture land. The land would pass to their son Elliot G. Rickarby who would grant the Park to the City and would go on to serve as President of the Mobile Bar Association from 1926 to 1928. His daughter Anne would teach at Woodcock School on Rickarby Street for many years. Other streets in the area were named for members of the family: Rickarby Place, Upham Street, Duncan Street, Calmes Street, and Rickarby Street.

I grew up on Cherokee Street and the park was my home-away-from-home. The park was the hub of neighborhood activity and it was the place where adults went to vote. Young and old went there to play, many of whom would have gotten in trouble if not for the guidance of the park director, Mrs. G, and the coaches there.

If someone misbehaved at the Park Mrs. G kept 3"x 5" index cards on everyone and would call your mother. If the infraction was severe enough she would sometimes suspend you from the Park for 2 weeks.

If there were disputes or disagreements, Mrs. G would conduct a trial. A prosecutor and defense would be appointed and a jury picked. These were great tools for civic learning. Two-thirds of the Park was covered with pine trees. The maintenance man had a contraption that consisted of a push lawn cutter he turned upside down to which he had attached two garden rakes. This allowed him to simply push the apparatus under the trees and rake up the pine straw. I was amazed by his inventiveness and ingenuity.

There was a Park house with restrooms and a covered area outside where “four-square” was played. A wading pool for the younger ones was open every summer. Inside there was ping-pong and board games to play and Mrs. G always had a Rook card game going. Sputnik was the Park dog – a friendly boxer named for the famous orbiting Soviet satellite, and on Friday nights there would be a sock hop.

In the 50’s a baseball diamond was re-established. City trucks dumped two big piles of red clay, and little by little, with hands-on help from the neighborhood, the clay was spread to form the diamond. Mr. McCarron attached a piece of chain-link fence to the back bumper of his car, threw some boards on it, and four or five of us kids jumped on board to hold the fencing down while Mr. McCarron ran his ’54 Chevy around and around the bases like Ty Cobb to spread and smooth the red clay. For us, this was a ride to rival any at the Gulf State Fair.

Rickarby Park in those days was a great place to build friendships, community, character and dreams. Two Mobilians have hit home runs in world series baseball games. One Hank Aaron and the other Jimbo Mason who grew up at Rickarby Park built his baseball dreams on its field. Please help keep the parks open so people and dogs can run free. 

 

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