It’s Around the Town Thursday and today we’re looking at a park located in Shawnee, Kansas. Pioneer Crossing Park sits on a small tract of land in that was formerly a used car lot.
It features two sculptures by a local Shawnee artist named Charles Goslin (the same Charles Goslin that created the statue of Chief Bluejacket located in Herman Laird Park, featured in last week’s Around the Town Thursday post).
The park includes native grass and flowers and plaques which include descriptions about each of the pioneer trails that crossed thru Shawnee as well as a map of all the trails and a plaque describing the wagon master’s house (which previously sat on the southeast corner of Nieman Road and Shawnee Mission Parkway).
The park has a nice walking trail in it and at the back of the park is a set of stairs leading up to a playground area. I didn’t even know it was there until I walked back to the back of the park and saw the stairs.
The park was created to commemorate the Sesquicentennial of Shawnee in 2006. Located at Shawnee Mission Parkway and Melrose, the park has a quiet, serene feeling while being just off to the side of a busy thoroughfare. The official park description can be found here, courtesy of the Shawnee CVB.