Historic Features of Reverchon Park

Historic Features of Reverchon Park

3505 Maple Avenue (Oak Lawn)

Reverchon Park is one of Dallas’s oldest and most historic parks. Conceived as the southern terminus to the Turtle Creek Parkway, the first 36 acres of the park were purchased in 1914 by the City of Dallas and was originally named Turtle Creek Park. In 1915, it was renamed for noted French botanist and La Reunion colonist Julien Reverchon.

The heart of the park is organized around meandering paths, a large play area, and groves of oaks and pecans. This area is nestled between two wooded hills on which the Works Progress Administration (WPA) created extensive stonework between 1935 and 1937. The focal point is the Hillside Terrace, a network of stone stairwells, bridges, pathways, lookouts, and seating spaces that cling to the park’s bluff. In 1946, the park expanded to 46 acres with new land in the southeast corner.

Community baseball games were played in Reverchon Park as early as 1921, with the current field and bleachers believed to date to 1924. Earlier this year the City Dallas approved an agreement with a developer to build a new baseball field and stands on the site of the current ballfield and for it to also serve as an entertainment venue. If the new venue is successful it could increase pressure to allow additional development of the park which could jeopardize its important historic features. Those features are currently in the process of being reviewed for the initiation of the Landmark Designation process and it is hoped that City of Dallas Landmark Designation will be approved to protect those features in perpetuity.