Fort Worth's First Park Purchase Became Trinity Park

In 1892, Fort Worth bought about 50 acres straddling the Clear Fork of the Trinity River, the city's first parkland purchase. Roughly 31 acres on the west bank became City Park. With no formal park department and little public money, local women's groups raised funds for some of the earliest improvements.

That small river park grew into today's 252-acre Trinity Park beside the Cultural District. It still holds a WPA shelter, a duck pond, playgrounds, river trails, and a station for the Forest Park Miniature Railroad.

The park now feels like a natural link between the river, the Botanic Garden, and nearby museums. Its quieter distinction is older: Fort Worth's public park system began with this patch of Clear Fork ground.