DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Douglass and McGar Parks, right here in Tarrant County. Now, picture Fort Worth in the late 1800s — Jim Crow segregation drawing hard lines across the city, deciding who could go where and who couldn't go anywhere at all. And right in the middle of that, in 1895, a man named Thomas Mason — an African-American entrepreneur — stepped up.
Along with J.D. Johnson and A. Sumlin, Mason purchased land in the Trinity River Bottoms.
What grew on that land would matter to this community for decades. The property became known as Douglass Park — sitting about three hundred yards south of where you're standing now — named for the abolitionist Frederick Douglass. And that very same year it opened, 1895, Douglass Park hosted a Juneteenth Celebration.
That wasn't a one-time thing. It became an annual event. Thousands attended.
Thousands. Year after year, the park held that celebration, and the community showed up. The place carried real weight.
The city commissioned a special officer to patrol the grounds. Many noted black churches used the property. The Prince Hall Masons built a lodge right there on it.
Douglass Park wasn't just a patch of ground — it was a gathering place, an institution, a statement that this community intended to thrive. But here's where the story shifts. In 1918, Fort Worth's Park Board purchased Douglass Park.
Despite an attempt to revitalize it, the park fell into disrepair. And in 1925, the Texas Electric Service Company purchased the property and officially closed it. Just like that — one of the great anchors of Fort Worth's African-American community, gone.
But before all that, Douglass Park had already set something else in motion. The crowds who gathered there to watch Negro baseball teams play grew so large — so enthusiastic, so uncontainable — that the games had to move. They moved across North Main Street, to the Texas and Pacific Ballpark, which sat on a railroad right of way.
Between 1907 and 1909, that ballpark was upgraded and changed its name to McGar Park — McGar's Field — after a businessman named Hiram McGar. And at McGar Park, something remarkable happened: both Black and white fans came through those gates to watch McGar's Wonders — later known as the Black Panthers — play ball. In a Jim Crow city, that field became a place where the game itself drew people together.
But McGar Park, too, had its enemies. Industrial development closed in. The 1922 flood hit hard.
Other factors piled on through the 1920s, and the park met its end. Today, the marker tells us plainly: no remnant remains of either park. The land that held Douglass and McGar Parks — the Juneteenth celebrations, the lodges, the ballgames, the thousands of people who came and kept coming — it's all gone from the ground.
But the marker is standing right here. And the story it carries doesn't let these places disappear. Douglass and McGar Parks were vital community institutions for Fort Worth's African-American community in the early twentieth century, and that's exactly what they remain — in memory, in record, and in the telling.
What the marker says
From the late 1800's, through the 1920's, during a time of Jim Crow segregation, Douglass and McGar parks served as recreational grounds for African Americans in Fort Worth. In 1895 Thomas Mason, an African-American entrepreneur, with J.D. Johnson and A. Sumlin, purchased land in the Trinity River Bottoms. The property soon became known as Douglass Park (about 300 yards south), named for abolitionist Frederick Douglass. That same year, the Park hosted a Juneteenth Celebration; this became an annual event that thousands attended. The city commissioned a special officer to patrol Douglass Park. Many noted black churches used the property, as did the Prince Hall Masons, who built a lodge on it. In 1918, Fort Worth's Park Board purchased Douglass park; despite an attempt to revitalize the park, it fell into disrepair and in 1925, the Texas Electric Service Company purchased the property and oficially closed it. Douglass Park led directly to the creation of another African-American Park. Crowds who gathered at Douglass Park to watch Negro baseball teams play became so large that the games moved to the Texas & Pacific Ballpark, which sat on a railroad right of way across) North Main Street. The ballpark was upgraded between 1907 and 1909 and changed names to McGar Park (McGar's Field), after businessman Hiram McGar. Both black and white fans came to watch McGar's wonders (later the Black Panthers) play. Industrial development, the 1922 flood and other factors led up to the demise of the Park during the 1920's. Today, no remnant remains of the Parks, though they continue to be remembered as vital community institutions for Fort Worth African American Americans in the early 20th Century. (2009)