At one time six sparkling springs fed a beautiful little lake in Spring Valley Park. The lake is pictured on the 1909 post card published in Leipzig, Germany. Land for the park, 27 acres between 28th and Woodland and 29th and Brooklyn, was acquired in 1902. In 1905 a news item told of plans for building a dam and lake: Near the lower end of the canyon at about 27th and Euclid will be a dam, which after collecting the waters from the springs, will make a lake in dimensions of about 300 feet each way. The boulevard will skirt this sheet of water. The whole scheme will require several years to work out but by frost, this year, Spring Valley Park will be a credit to the South Park District. Part of a poem, written by an unknown author in 1912, described the lake: The south wind comes so soft and sweet, Through trees and scented grasses, That when it finds the sleeping lake, The waves are suddenly awake, And smile and lift their heads to meet, Its kisses as it passes. By 1939 the gushing springs had gone dry and the little lake created 25 years earlier had given way to tennis courts and five playgrounds. Kansas City Star, May 6, 1972.
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