Guide to Kelly Park

Kelly Park is a quiet, cute little neighborhood park, and it'd be easy to drive by or even play there without realizing it's been the site of fun for Sioux City kids for more than a century, starting with the homesteading Kelly kids in the late 1800s! Here's my guide to Kelly Park, including a bit of the park's history: 

Where is Kelly Park?

Kelly Park is listed by Sioux City Parks and Rec as being at "Fall Avenue and Carlin" which should get you there too, but according to the assessor's office is officially at 3300 Parkview Avenue in Sioux City, Iowa, 51105. There is no parking lot, and no parking on Parkview on the park side of the road, but there is free street parking on other streets near the park.

 

Amenities and Fun at Kelly Park

Kelly Park in the 2020s includes two acres of grassy space according to Parks & Rec, but it felt like more to me. The park also has picnic tables (I counted 5) and a cute play structure with two slides and a frontier cabin theme, which is a cute homage to the park's history. There were also 4 swings: two standard swings and 2 baby swings. And there are two mysterious poles that turned out to be giant pogo sticks! While one was in need of oiling, the other worked beautifully and was my kids' favorite feature at Kelly Park.

History of Kelly Park

Kelly Park was so named because the entire neighborhood was once the land of Cornelius Kelly and his wife Annie Gunn Kelly (whose brother Thomas Gunn was one of the first Catholic priests in Sioux City, serving at St. Mary's parish.) The Kellys lived there in the late 19th century and raised their 8 children there. In 1920, the Levitt Investment Company created the 80-acre Kelly Park development, including housing, Kelly Park (called "Kelly Field" in the original plan), and a proposed school site just off the park.  The school was never built, but the park obviously was, on both the park lot and the intended school lot (which is interestingly still listed as the "Kelly Park School Site" on the assessor's website) and it continues to offer a great place to play for Sioux City kids. 

Kelly Park neighborhood plan as printed in the Sioux City Journal in September 2020

It's so fun to think that kids are running and playing on the same bit of grassy earth as other local kids have been for more than a century. I'd love to see the city or Historic Preservation Committee put up an informational display about the history of the park in Kelly Park at some point. I had no idea when I went to play with my kids for a few minutes that it was such a historic park!

For more information

To learn more about Kelly Park and other Sioux City parks, head to Sioux City Parks and Recreation or check out my full guide to city parks in Sioux City!