TULSA, Okla — Tulsans came together to revitalize a local park in North Tulsa that dates back to before segregation was fully abolished.
The baseball park in Tulsa's Lacy Park also went by several other names, including Lincoln Park and Berry Park, named after the man who owned the land in the 1920's.
WATCH: Community working to revitalize historic north Tulsa park:
Jake Cornwell is a local historian and a member of the Tulsa Rumblers baseball team.
He’s been closely studying the park and its history.
“This was also an important part for the community," he said. "You had a lot of softball teams that played here, a lot of football teams played here in the fall and those kind of things.”
Cornwell said the land's previous owner, before it was sold to the city, was Simon Berry, also referred to in some documents as Simeon Berry.
Cornwell learned from archives that Berry owned a cab service during the Greenwood and Black Wall Street era, and ended up selling the land to the city between the 1930s and 40s.
These photos, provided by Cornwell, some of which he's colorized show the area at that time.
After that, the city added a baseball field to Lacy Park.
A city directory listed the property as Lincoln Park in 1938, probably around the same time the baseball field is thought to have been built.
To keep the park's history alive, Cornwell along with the Tulsa Rumblers invested in revitalizing the field, turf, lights, and fencing, but he said he felt one of his biggest accomplishments was restoring the backstop, which he believes is the same one originally installed on the field when it opened in the 40s.
According to the archives, this photo was taken in 1949.
The backstop was knocked down due to straightline winds last Spring, but with some repairs, the backstop was re-installed and has made it through Tulsa’s recent tornado season.
“When we get out here, and we put on our pinstripe uniforms, we feel like we've connected a little bit to those guys who were doing this, yeah, for fun, but they didn't really realize that they were making history at the same time," said Cornwell.
Dawanda Smith said she’s lived in north Tulsa her whole life, and now lives across the street from the Lacy Park baseball field.
“It's been amazing," she said. "I sit here, and I watch the games on Sundays, and my kids play baseball in the baseball field.”
She said she’s proud that people are stepping up to take care of it and hopes others will come and enjoy what the park has to offer.
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