Name:
Between September 19 and 27, 1970, radio stations CHML and CKDS broadcasted an invitation to the public to suggest names for twelve unnamed parks. Mr. Bill Lyttle put forward the name William J. McCulloch because of the contributions he made to the city.
Mr. McCulloch was born in Burlington in 1903 and educated in Hamilton. From 1923 to 1944 he was on the staff of the Hamilton Spectator, being Foreign News Editor for 10 years. He was the Managing Secretary of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce from 1944 to 1947. During that period the membership of the Chamber of Commerce increased 100%. He then became associated with the Hamilton Street Railway and for 17 years was Director of Employee and Public Relations and Personnel Manager. He was also a member and co-founder of the Lincoln Fellowship of Canada (an organization whose purpose is to perpetuate the life and works of the great American president) - the only Civil War organization outside the United States.
Mr. McCulloch's most notable contribution was his work as chairman of Hamilton's project for Canada's Centennial, the restoration of Dundurn Castle. In 1968, he was named Citizen of the Year. The same year, he was awarded the City of Hamilton Medal, which was created in his honour by City Council, and, just a few month before, the Burlington Sertoma Club had singled him out as the 1967 recipient of the club's Service To Mankind award.
One June 6, 1968, Mr. McCulloch passed away. He will be remembered as a man who was big in heart, big in vision, and big in faith.
On June 16, 1969, a plaque was dedicated at Dundurn Castle in honour of Mr. McCulloch for his work as chairman of Hamilton's Centennial Committee, especially his leading role in the restoration of the castle. The inscription on it reads: "This plaque is in memory of W. J. McCulloch under whose leadership Dundurn Castle was restored as Hamilton's major project to celebrate Canada's Centennial 1967." In 1973, the park was named after Mr. McCulloch.
Playground equipment was installed in June of 1972. In 1993, redevelopment of the park was undertaken.
