Did you know Freeman Park was once garbage dump, slum?

Today Freeman Park is synonymous with rolling hills, luscious green lawns and bubbling brooks. But beneath the beauty lurks a history few people remember.

During the 1940s and 1950s Freeman Park served as the city garbage dump.

“It was a great adventure for boys, and maybe sometimes girls to come here and sort through some of the junk looking for treasures,” said Joe Stewart, with the Bonneville County Heritage Association.

Those items that weren’t deemed treasures were simply burned.

“There was always smoke coming from the dump area,” said Stewart.

High winds would frequently blow trash to the surrounding area. But nevertheless, Stewart said a shanty town informally known as Duttonville soon sprang up around the dump site.

“The hobos had set up their housing and what not,” said Stewart.

Complete with packed dirt roads, that housing didn’t amount to much.

“Tarp paper shacks were common, often surrounded by junked out cars,” said Stewart.

By the late 1950s, however, change was on the horizon as the city sought to repurpose the dump site.

“In 1957 and ’58 several thousand truckloads of soil were hauled in to cover the garbage dump waste,” said Stewart.

By 1966 the former garbage dump had become Eagle Rock Park and Duttonville soon disappeared.

“People started to recognize that the park was here. They built homes — nice homes,” said Stewart.

The park officially became Freeman Park in 1973.

Even before its time as a dump site, Stewart said the park was an ancient Indian camping ground. He said several arrowheads have been discovered there.