Marine Park
Dedication
Size
Additional amenities
- Basketball Court
- Benches
- Bike Rack
- Drinking Fountain
- Park Lighting
- Parking Lot
- Playground
- Shelter
- Skatepark
- Soccer Field
- Stand Alone Swing
- Swimming Pool/Splashpad
- Tables
- Tennis Court
- Volleyball Court
Fun facts & History
When landscape architect Nathan Barrett designed the plat for North Fort Worth in 1888, he fortuitously included open spaces for parks and boulevards with esplanades in the middle. Among these was an open space on 20th Street west of Main Street. The park took its name from nearby Marine Creek and became a popular gathering spot for North Siders. The municipality of North Fort Worth claimed ownership of the property based on the fact that an old map identified the twelve-acre parcel as a park. The North Fort Worth Townsite Company challenged the claim by asserting that deed records identified the company as the owner and the company sued the city. The Seventeenth District Court ruled in favor of the city in December 1906. Following the suit, the City of North Fort Worth planned to improve the park with the addition of a lake which could be plied by rowboats, the trimming of trees, and the stringing of electric lights.
Marine Park was acquired by the Fort Worth park department when North Fort Worth was annexed in 1909, the same year that the park board was established. In 1910, a lake was created in the park along the lines of the one envisioned by the City of North Fort Worth. But it was not until the following year that adequate rainfall finally filled it. However, complaints from neighbors that the lake was a breeding spot for mosquitoes led to the decision to drain it. The lake’s embankment is still visible today. By 1915, Marine Park had a tennis court. In 1926, the park received a swimming pool and bathhouse. In the 1930s, improvements included the construction of a shelter, a rose garden, and sidewalks designed by Hare and Hare.
Marine Park was the site of a deadly tragedy in 1945. On December 21, 1945, the park’s bathhouse was destroyed by fire and resulted in the death of two boys, Jerry Swanson, 8, and Kenneth Baker, 10. The bathhouse was repaired at an estimated cost of $6,700 and reopened for the 1946 summer season.
In early 1955, the park board authorized the recreation department and the North Side Kiwanis to construct a Little League baseball diamond in the park with the Kiwanis club paying the expenses and the recreation department supervising its constructions.
As the demographics of the North Side changed, Marine Park became a popular gathering spot with the area’s Hispanic population. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Cinco de Mayo celebrations were held there. In 2002, the playground prototype that was added to the park received the Innovations in Parks Award for Region 2 from the Texas Recreation and Park Society. In 2006, Park & Recreation Department staff undertook several Small Capital Projects in city parks, including the replacement of a shelter as well as walk and trail replacement.
Marine Park’s swimming pool was closed following the 2009 season due to its deteriorated condition. The city council approved replacement of the pool in December 2011. The old pool was demolished and a new one constructed in line with the Aquatics Master Plan that was adopted in 2008. When the Marine Park Aquatics Center opened on May 25, 2013, it contained the city’s first all-new pool since 1960. Its features included a wading area with an interactive children’s waterscape, a water slide, a 25-yard lap pool, and submerged deck chairs. Also added was a new Spanish-style bathhouse that included restrooms, changing areas and lockers, and vending machines. Improvements were also made to the park that included a shelter on the site of the old pool, a skate park, benches, picnic tables, and sidewalks. Also included was a memorial to neighborhood leader Betty Ward.
View animal, plant and insect species observed at Marine Park and make some of your own observations through iNaturalist. See link under the "Related information" Section.
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Location
303 NW 20th Street, Fort Worth 76164 View Map
32.78059560000001,-97.3501155
303 NW 20th Street ,
Fort Worth 76164
303 NW 20th Street ,
Fort Worth 76164
Marine Park