TRUTH ABOUT THE Alligator

There have always been rumors about alligators in Hagerstown City Park for as long as some of us can remember, but it wasn't until recently that the local satire site The Hagerstown Report brought the alligator to the forefront of local attention.

Many years ago, the site ran a satire asking residents to keep an eye out for an alligator which had escaped from city park. The article was very non-alarmist, and stated that the alligator had been specially trained to only eat geese, in order to keep the local population in check. In a panic that the article might be real, several local residents went so far as to call Hagerstown City Hall and express their concern regarding keeping live alligators in the park.

Today, most locals understand the alligator in the park is satire, but love to go along with the gag. This sometimes confuses visitors and newcomers, so we thought it might be helpful to have a page actually explaining the history of the "Hagerstown City Park Alligator" and its standing in local lore and culture. The alligator is now featured as the official mascot of Radio Free Hub City, a local internet radio and news site.

There was also briefly a push to make the alligator the new Hagerstown baseball team's name and mascot. However, the team as instead gone with Flying Boxcars, paying homage to Hagerstown's rich aviation history.

We hope you've enjoyed this peek into local lore, and are still hopeful that the city will eventually give in to our recommendations to build an alligator statue in Hagerstown City Park. Maybe someday!