Doling Park History Museum

The April opening of the museum is currently delayed due to the Stay-Home order.The April opening of the museum is currently delayed due to the Stay-Home order.

Interesting info here on the founder and namesake of Doling Park.

...Old car in front of Doling Skate rink...owned by William "Billy" Morrison....don't know year or brand of car...

Know any of these kids? I bet some still live in Doling Neighborhood. That’s one of the things that makes the Northside strong - deep roots!

Heads up: the Doling Museum Car Show is Sunday, Oct. 13, 1-4 p.m. (not Saturday.)

The Doling Museum family and the Springfield-Greene County Park Board are remembering our friend, Gail Mitchell, who passed April 11. Gail was involved with the museum for many years, having had a family connection to the park in its heyday. She was the lead researcher and author of the History of Doling Park, a 400+ page book published in 2016, detailing the park's early days, amusement park, roller rink and more. We are indebted to Gail for compiling Doling Park's history into this book, insuring that generations to come may learn about this unique park and all the experiences and memories associated with it. Thank you, Gail. Service details are below.

Well here something that would be a sight to see again. Many of you may remember the little paddle boats that you could take out on Doling Lake, but did you kn...ow they once a steam boat? In April of 1886 ~ just 133 years ago ~ James Marshall Doling's son Rapheal was tasked with find a steam boat in St Louis suitable for the lake. He found one and and had it shipped back her on the Frisco Railroad and deliver to the lake on April 28th 1886. On May 17th 1886 the boat was launched for the first time. It was quite a sight but scared a horse and its owners fell into the water and had to rescued. The boat was a big hit! and became one of the main attractions. We do not know what happened to it, would look nice in a museum though If you want to know what it was like click here https://youtu.be/57usKrdpCvU?t=166 Photo 1) a boat similar to what Rapheal Doing brought back from St Louis in 1886. Photo 2) Steam Boat Launch on Doing Lake SGF Leader May 17 1886 Photo 3) Doling Park Lake circa 1900.

Free Concert at the Cave today

Today’s Pre-Memorial Day celebration at Doling History Museum is canceled, due to rain.

A DAY AT DOLING PARK------WHAT A DAY ! How well I remember! All of these photos are from the SPRINGFIELD NEWSPAPER archives. These photos are used with the per...mission of the SPRINGFIELD NEWS-LEADER. Photos may be shared but cannot be downloaded and used for any commercial purpose. These fabulous photos are from a beautiful spring day in May of 1960. They were all taken by staff photographer Betty Love for an article that appeared in the SPRINGFIELD NEWS-LEADER on Sunday May 22, 1960. I would suspect the photos were actually taken on a Friday? It doesn't look like my home school---Nixa was there on this certain day, BUT I remember the All-School Nixa picnics that we attended at Doling Park when I was in grade school. The Nixa School picnic was held on the last day of "school." All of the school kids grades 1 thru 12 were bussed from Nixa to north Springfield where the special Doling Park was located. We stayed for hours and I remember "us" kids ran in all directions for all of those hours. The only thing that was half way organized was the lunch break, when everyone was supposed to be gathered together for the meal. Some people brought their own picnic lunch, while others went "big time" and had the money to buy whatever type of lunch they wanted at the concession stand. The teachers were supposed to do general supervision, if they were lucky. We were advised to not try to enter Giboney Cave and to not go too close to the water (the lake). Otherwise we ran and rode and simply had the BEST TIMES OF OUR LIFE. I also went to Doling Park with family members for family reunions. One or two of my grade school classes went to Doling for skating. My grandparents Almus and Ida Payne drove over to Doling Park on the 4th of July evening for the BIGGEST FIREWORKS DISPLAY in the area---back in the 1950s. I have NOTHING BUT GREAT MEMORIES of this special place called Doling Park. About the time I entered high school (1961-1962) the park amusement "division" began a down hill slide that led to its closing in the 1970s. I hope these 12 photos bring back as many happy memories for you as they did (do) for me. Some of these photos identify specific young people so take the time to read my captioning of each photo if you wish. NOTE: I did not find a photo of LAUGHING LENA!