Stephens Neighborhood Park

Dedication

1984

Size

4 acres

Additional amenities

Backstop
Bench
Playground area
Shelter
Softball/baseball field
Stand alone swing
Table
Trash receptacle

Fun facts

The park board accepted a 5.37-acre tract at Gambrell and Waits in March 1960 as a gift from the City of Fort Worth Water Department. This southeast Fort Worth park is on the north slope of Seminary Hill beneath a two-million-gallon water tower and is a few blocks west of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. This donation fulfilled one of the recommendations in Hare & Hare’s 1957 Park Master Plan to acquire park property in this general area. Improvements made to the park over the years include playground renovations in 2004 that were funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Interior’s Urban Park and Recreation Recovery and Texas Parks & Wildlife Department’s Community Development Block Grant funds. Park records indicate it has four acres.

The source of the park’s name has not been determined. It is possible that it was named for Uel Stephens (1893-1976), Director of the City’s Water Department from 1942 until his retirement in 1961.

Recreation

The park has a 0.25 mile cement trail from West Gambrell Street to the pavilion and playground. Picnic tables are under the pavilion and nearby is a baseball backstop and basketball court.

Geology

The geology is Grayson Marl and Main Street Limestone of the Cretaceous. Grayson Marl consists of greenish-gray thinly interbedded limestone with nodular bits of shale, sand and fossiliferous material. The Main Street Limestone is hard, thin interbedded gray and white layers.

Soils

The park lies within the Bolar soil series which consists of moderately deep, permeable soils with interbedded limestone and marls laid down during the Cretaceous Period. These soils occur on summits and backslopes of ridges on hills.

Ecology

The park has a lawn ecology. Commonly observed plants in the park include Carolina ponyfoot, white clover, crowpoison, straggler daisy, and little bur-clover. There are a few shade trees. Insect species observed are flower beetles, common checkered-skipper, spotted cucumber beetle, and bordered patch butterfly.

View animal, plant and insect species observed at Stephens Neighborhood Park and make some of your own observations through iNaturalist. See link under the "Related information" Section.

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