City Island

City Island, a 63-acre island in the Susquehanna River, has drawn human use from prehistoric native Americans at least 9,000 years ago through Harrisburg’s founding and the centuries that followed. As a key land mass within the river, it stood at the convergence of ancient trails and later helped establish the city’s importance as a transportation center. Archaeological remains on the island reflect seasonal settlements by the Susquehannocks and the Iroquois. During Harrisburg’s early development, the island could be reached only by boat until the Camelback Bridge was completed in 1817 at the site of the present-day Market Street Bridge. Known at various times as Turkey Island, Maclay's Island, Forster's Island, and Hargast Island, it was first used for truck farming before municipal improvements in the early 20th century began transforming it into a park. Amateur baseball was played there by the 1880's, and professional baseball arrived in 1903 with the Harrisburg Athletics and the Negro League Harrisburg Giants; Satchel Paige and Babe Ruth also played there. Athletic fields at the southern end hosted track meets and other sporting events, and in 1908 Jim Thorpe won the high jump there for the Carlisle Indians in statewide competition. Public works projects in the early 20th century also created the City Island Filtration Plant, which drew water from the river, filtered it in reservoirs near what is now the Skyline Sports Complex, and sent it through an under-the-riverbed tunnel to the Old Waterworks at Front and North Streets, from which it was pumped to Reservoir Park. By 1922 a bathhouse and concrete beach had appeared as the island’s popularity increased. In the mid-1980's, the Mayor’s Parks Improvement Program restored professional minor league baseball to Harrisburg with Riverside Stadium and added attractions such as Riverside Village, Harbourtown, the Skyline Sports Complex, the Carriage House, the Harrisburg Riverboat, miniature golf, three boat marinas, the City Island Railroad, and twenty other facilities. City Island is home to the Harrisburg Senators, a AA baseball team that has won numerous national and league titles, and to the Central Pennsylvania Piranha, a multi-year champion in minor league professional football, while also hosting outdoor soccer, lacrosse, rugby, softball, volleyball, and hundreds of events each year.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania · United States