Sullivan Field

812 Walnut Street.  Today, it is part self-storage facility and part lumber yard, unrecognizable from its former life as the nerve center for Washington sports and entertainment.

The first known activity that took place in this area was in 1912 when Washington High School held the track and field portion of the Tazewell County Meet.  That competition included track, speech, and music and was held on May 10, 1912.  Approximately 2,000 people attended the track meet that day.  The track was created especially for the meet by chiseling out the sod around the perimeter of the property.

Sullivan Field really started to become active in the 1920s. The Washington High School football team used the field for its games from 1924 to 1941, playing its first night game there on October 22, 1937.

Baseball was also a main attraction starting in the 1920s, as the Washington Bulldogs started playing at the field as early as 1922. The Bull Dog Insurance Company of Washington sponsored the team until the firm dissolved in 1930. In 1934, Washington had a team called the Washington Fans, and in 1938, a team was resurrected under the name the Washington Merchants. The early Bulldog games would draw thousands of spectators to Sullivan Field, and the fences would be covered so only paying customers could see the games.

While football and baseball drew their share of spectators, traveling shows and temporary entertainment made the area truly unique. In 1930 and 1931, Roy Kinsinger and Ray Wind constructed a miniature golf course next to the field.

In 1931, Otto Fuchs of Pekin erected an outdoor roller skating rink adjacent to the miniature golf course and ball diamond.  The rink was under a large tent.  This was a traveling rink and was in town for just a few months before moving on to another small town.  In 1938, The “Pearson Shows,” a traveling carnival, stopped for a week, and in 1941 a new traveling roller rink made a stop in town at Sullivan Field, run by George Machin of Williamsfield.

When the high school moved to Bondurant Street, the town’s reliance on Sullivan Field for entertainment seemed to dwindle. In 1946, Willis Sullivan was chosen to be the Commander of American Legion Post 100, and for the next few years, the Legion held its Easter egg hunt and a spring festival at the field. The last known entertainment activity to occur at Sullivan Field was a Turner Brothers carnival sponsored by the American Legion in 1952.

In the mid-1950s, the Sullivan heirs ceased activity at the site, citing the increasing traffic problems of Route 24 and more opportunities in other parts of town for the same activities. The property remained in the family for decades until it was sold off to the self-storage and lumber businesses that reside there today.