History
Wahpeton purchased the land for Chahinkapa Park from the federal government in 1903. In 1933 the town established a Park Board with R.J. Hughes as director, and started the zoo with just a few animals.
In the 1960s the zoo was moved to its current location, occupying 18 acres (7.3 ha) at the North end of Chahinkapa Park. The Chahinkapa Zoo Association was formed in 1974 to help plan and raise money for the zoo, and by 1984 a master plan had been developed.
In 1989 the Rodger Ehnstrom Nature Center was opened as the center of educational activity in the zoo. The zoo hired its first director in 1994, and was accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) in 1995.
In April 1997 the zoo was flooded, but all animals were safely evacuated and the zoo reopened at the end of May. Subsequently a levee was constructed to protect the North side of Walpeton (including the zoo) from 500 year flood levels. The zoo was renovated at this time with new exhibits, paths, and a petting zoo.
Read more about this topic: Chahinkapa Zoo
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“What would we not give for some great poem to read now, which would be in harmony with the scenery,—for if men read aright, methinks they would never read anything but poems. No history nor philosophy can supply their place.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Racism is an ism to which everyone in the world today is exposed; for or against, we must take sides. And the history of the future will differ according to the decision which we make.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)
“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)