nity favorite on Sundays and weekends, particularly for picnics.
A monument honoring Confederate soldiers was placed there in 1908 by the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, as well as a war cannon relic.
( The statue was relocated in 2021 to the Morton Museum and replaced with a new monument that pays tribute to the United States and Gainesville’ s Medal of Honor Host City role. A Gold Star Families memorial was also added in 2019.)
In 1916, a site for a community swimming pool was provided by the city council, adding to the recreational equipment.
Joe Leonard recalled when the Leonard Park swimming pool was brand new, with a sandy bottom and a wooden diving platform with a spring board and a high dive up top.
A Civilian Conservation Corps camp was established at the park in 1933.
New rock and concrete tables and benches and barbecue pits followed.
John Leonard retired from active participation at The Register in 1928, and was named park superintendent.
In partnership with Paul Gallia, a movement for sufficient funds to build an ornamental park entrance, bearing“ Leonard Park,” was successful.
Sometime in the last 1930s, John Leonard was able get the park extended east to Fair Park, where large trees dedicated to local citizens past and present stood.
Two tennis courts were added in that section, and the Maggie House Garden Club put together plans for a unified beautification with both sections.
John Leonard— who often visited the park— died there on a hot August day in 1935.
A memorial monument made of concrete and bronze recounts his contributions to the city and notes that he died on that spot.
His beloved community project continued expansion even after his death, including the addition of the Frank Buck Zoo in 1962.
To date, the community park spans a little over 30 acres on Interstate 35 and California Street divided into the common area of the park, the zoo, ball fields and the swimming pool.
Inside the park are 73 picnic tables, grills and smokers, a plastic playground for toddlers and a large wooden, handicap-accessible playground of about 5,000 square feet.
The pavilion is available to rent every weekend.
The Frankie Schmitz Express, a steam engine replica, carries visitors along a one-mile route covering the entire park.
Four lighted baseball fields and four softball are used by Cooke County clubs for league play.
The 2 million-gallon Leonard Park Aquatic Center includes two slides, a diving board, rock climbing wall, human hamster balls and a shaded cabana. Swimming lessons, water aerobics and private party rentals are also available.
12 GAINESVILLE LIVING