The island contains archaeological remains of the
Susquehannocks and the
Iroquois tribes, who at one time established seasonal settlements here. During the initial development of Harrisburg, the island was only able to be reached by boat or fording in low waters, until 1817 when the Camelback Bridge, site of the present-day Market Street Bridge, was completed. During the
American Civil War, Camp Necessity was formed on City Island in 1863 for
Union troops to stage additional defense as
Confederate troops threatened invasion of the area during the
Gettysburg campaign. Then in 1865, Camp Keystone was formed on the island, as
Camp Curtin was overflowing with returning troops. Though originally used for
truck farming, amateur games of
baseball were played here as early as the 1880s. In 1903, the Harrisburg Athletics professional baseball team and
Harrisburg Giants Negro league arrived at Island Park on City Island.
Satchel Paige played games at Island Park through the Negro leagues, which were held on the island through 1957. The
original Harrisburg Senators played in the
Eastern League starting in 1924. Playing its home games at Island Field, the team won the league championship in the 1927, 1928, and 1931 seasons.
Babe Ruth famously played a game at Island Park in 1928 when the
New York Yankees came to Harrisburg to
scrimmage against the original Senators. The Senators played a few more seasons before flood waters destroyed Island Field in 1936, effectively ending Eastern League participation for fifty-one years. In 1940, Harrisburg gained an Interstate League team affiliation with the
Pittsburgh Pirates. However, the team remained in the city only until 1943, when it moved to nearby
York and renamed the
York Pirates. With the onset of the
City Beautiful Movement in the 1900s, the City Island Filtration Plant was constructed. The plant drew water from the river, filtered it into concrete reservoirs (which now define the edge of the
Skyline Sports Complex), and pumped it by tunnel laid under the river to the Old Waterworks at Front and North Streets, which then pumped the water to the reservoirs up in
Reservoir Park. The Flood of 1972 resulting from
Hurricane Agnes destroyed the Filtration Plant, leaving the DeHart Dam to supply water to the city. By the 1980s, concerts were held in the old field leftover from athletic events, such as
Metallica (July 12, 1989) and
Grateful Dead (June 22, 1983 and June 23, 1984). However, part of the field which was used for concerts would become the new Riverside Stadium (now
FNB Field) in 1987. ==Layout and attractions==