Following the death of her husband, William G. Newby, president of the American National Bank in Fort Worth, Etta Newby (1862-1936) continued his philanthropic ways, most notably when she purchased the former Frerich House on Pennsylvania Avenue and deeded it to the Fort Worth Woman’s Club for use as the organization’s permanent home. Following Mrs. Newby’s death, her will established a trust that donated to a wide variety of causes. In 1949, Park Superintendent Harry J. Adams negotiated a ten-year lease with the trustee’s of her estate on a small tract of land fronting Jerome Street in the Mistletoe Heights neighborhood at the rate of one dollar a year. The lease was negotiated after 111 residents of the nearby streets signed a petition stating that they did not object to the park being used by both white and black residents (the park was also close to the Treazvant neighborhood, a historic African American community with its own school, Amanda McCoy Elementary). The parcel was to be known as Newby Memorial Playground Park and was possibly the first integrated park established in the city. The park was officially designated as a city park in 1951.
In 2005, it received a pavilion through the efforts of the Friends of Newby Park. The group raised fund through the sale of engraved bricks and received donations of material and money from corporate sponsors. The Southside tax increment finance district matched monetary donations up to $25,000. The city sponsored playground construction and playground equipment. The park received additional playground renovations in 2008-09
View animal, plant and insect species observed at Newby Park and make some of your own observations through iNaturalist. See link under the "Related information" Section.
Reserve this park on ActiveNet
1105 Jerome Street, Fort Worth 76110 View Map
1105 Jerome Street , Fort Worth 76110
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Newby Park Hours: Open from Dawn to Dusk