Austin's Givens District Park honored as Lone Star Legacy Park
AUSTIN, Texas - Austin’s Givens District Park has been named a Lone Star Legacy Park by the Texas Recreation and Parks Society this week.
Givens Park is one of three Texas parks honored with this designation in 2022 alongside Henderson Park in Brenham and Hermann Square in Houston.
Austin’s Givens District Park has been named a Lone Star Legacy Park by the Texas Recreation and Parks Society this week. (City of Austin)
Givens Park joins other Austin parks with this distinction, including Parque Zaragoza Neighborhood Park, Pease District Park, Zilker Metropolitan Park, Rosewood Neighborhood Park, Eastwoods Neighborhood Park, and Wooldridge Square.
The Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) says that a Lone Star Legacy Park is one that holds special prominence in the local community and the state of Texas. To qualify for consideration, the park must have endured the test of time and become iconic to those who have visited, played and rested on its grounds.
Nominated parks must be a minimum of 50 years old and meet criteria related to historic, architectural, and natural significance.
According to PARD, after 14-acre Rosewood Neighborhood Park opened as the first and only segregated public park for Black Austinites to use in 1929, many in the community soon began advocating for a bigger park, a district park, to accommodate the large numbers of people utilizing the municipal space.
Finally, in 1959, Givens District Park opened as the second segregated public park in Austin, which was seen as a huge victory for East Austin, says PARD. The park quickly became a hot spot for Black Austinites; the traditions that started in the park became beloved and many have lasted throughout the years, such as the car culture, youth sports, and celebrating holidays.
The park was named posthumously for Dr. Everett H. Givens, one of the first Black dentists in Austin, a World War I veteran, and a luminary for the Black community in East Austin. PARD says that Dr. Givens was not only a stalwart advocate for a larger district park for Austin’s Black community, but he championed many of the improvements in East Austin as well as civil rights, welfare, and opportunities for Black Austinites during Jim Crow.
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