Ruddick Park

Given to city 1929 in memory of pioneer William Penn Ruddick, farmer and dairyman, and Mrs. Ruddick. History was made here even before Ruddick arrived, however. In 1840 Colonel John Henry Moore and 90 Indian fighters wiped out a Comanche village on the Colorado nearby. The creek that runs through the park was named for Chief Lone Wolf of the Kiowa Indians, who camped along the creek banks. In 1880 Co. B of the Frontier Battalion, under Captain Sam McMurry, was ordered here to combat Indian attacks. With the coming of the Texas & Pacific Railroad in 1881, immigrants began to flood the area. W.P. Ruddick (1851-1914) and his wife Sarah (Hutchens) moved from Oregon and set up housekeeping in a half-dugout until lumber could be shipped from Fort Worth. Ruddick, a Quaker, was one of the first in Mitchell County to raise cotton. He also planted an orchard and operated a dairy, for which he transported the first registered Jersey and Hereford cattle into the county. He ranched and drilled water wells for his neighbors as well as himself. Soon after the donation of the original 20-acre park by Ruddick's heirs, an amphitheater and stage were built here. The park now contains 138 acres. (1970)

Ruddick Park is a historical marker in Colorado City, Mitchell County, dedicated in 1970. It is one of 38 historical markers documented in Mitchell County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 55 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.3958, -100.8513 near Colorado City. The nearest cataloged historic site is Comanche Village Massacre (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Cumberland Presbyterian Cemetery, Colorado City Cemetery, and McMurry, Y. D. (Fed. 9, 1858-April 12, 1923).

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5335004380. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.