Photo by Mike Brothers
Walking in the park is the same today as it was 100 years ago except the lake is a little bigger and the trees are mature. Sisters Martina Emrick and Teresa Ingram are taking a morning stroll around the lake on Wyman Park’s 100th birthday.

A century old gift to the city

•September 2, 2015•

By Mike Brothers

It’s a good day to take a walk in the park. And for the people of Sullivan Wyman Park is the best place to take that stroll.

On Sept 1, 2015 the 45 acre Wyman Park at the north edge of the city turned 100 years old.

It was the vision of German immigrant and shoemaker Albert Wyman, a frugal man who took five mile walks every day.

Local resident and Wyman historian Joe Pound got interested in the shoemaker’s life after he and wife Joan returned to Sullivan to retire.

“What intrigued me at first was how a man who came from Germany in his twenties ended up in Sullivan,” Joe said, noting wife Joan, who passed away in July, was his researcher who traced Wyman’s journey along with help from local historian Janet Roney.

Pound, who is also of German ancestry, discovered that Wyman came to Sullivan from Effingham County in 1870 with 65 cents in his pocket.

By the time he gifted the city of Sullivan with $33,000 to establish a park, he was worth more than a million dollars in present day currency value.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.