The Park
At the western and northern boundaries of the neighborhood is Washington Park itself, an area of contrast in its steep hills, some wooded, falling to the flat open floodplains of Salem Creek. Seventeen acres of the park was dedicated by map in March, 1892, when WSL&I registered its subdivision plat. In 1955 the city purchased approximately forty-seven acres from the Moravian Church. Since then, additional land has been acquired to enlarge the park. The park today encompasses seventy-five acres of land and stretches to the west to an adjoining but unrelated neighborhood. It remains under city ownership. The city's community-wide recreation services began in 1918 when the city appropriated $6,000 for citywide park and playground services and authorized opening five playgrounds. The city provided a park superintendent, Oscar Tesh, who lived on the north side of Bond Street at the park's edge in a city-owned house.
The park has always been heavily used. Many older residents of the neighborhood remember the man-made lake in the center of the park which was used for ice skating in the winter. The lake was fed by a spring through a gorge which apparently was covered by houses built on Banner Avenue in the 1950s. Some remember a bakery in the park, and all remember Sunday School picnics and band concerts held on a flat stage, and profuse flowers.
In 1928 the DAR presented a stone bench and a stone gate with iron arch reading "Washington Park" which still stands as an entrance to the park at the foot of Gloria Avenue. The newspaper stated that 'impressive ceremonies marked the unveiling and presentation by the Old North State Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution of a stone gateway and stone bench in Washington Park ... in memory of George Washington.' It continues,
"Included in the program was the presentation by the Alexander Martin Chapter of the C.A-R. [Children of the American Revolution] of bird baths and bird houses... Music was furnished by the R.J. Reynolds High School Band... Rev. Douglas Rights exhibited a large number of Indian relics and arrowheads which he said had been found within one and one-half miles of the park and spoke briefly in regard to them andstating that they will be turned over to the Wachovia Historical Society. Henry R. Dwire accepted the gateway and bench presented by the Old North State chapter.
At the close of the exercises, the Old North State chapter, through courtesy of the Bobbitt Drug Company, Welfare Drug Company and Arcadia Drug Company, Southside, served ice cream and refreshments."
A fire in the 1930s burned a rock and concrete pavilion; its cedar posts and framing for the top were rebuilt. A ball field was built in the early 1960s and the park was lighted in 1965. A paved basketball court was added in 1966. Another ball field and bathrooms were built more recently. A fitness trail circles the perimeter of the park and the city's greenway follows Salem Creek through the park.
The park was always wooded, heavily in parts, until May of 1989 when a tornado inflicted tremendous damage, destroying hundreds of large trees. The park's barren hills today are in sharp contrast to over a century of forested hillsides. The Washington Park Neighborhood Association is raising funds to help replace trees in the park.
Information from the National Register of Historic Places:
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