Located in southeast Raleigh, this park of currently 26 1/2 acres was developed in 1937 as a "separate but equal" recreational facility for African Americans. Built with contributions from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and with solid backing from the local government and civic organizations, the park is one of a few segregated recreation facilities built in North Carolina during this period with federal funding confirming the complicity of the federal government with southern Jim Crow policies. The park was designed by G. Robert Derick, a National Park Service landscape architect, and it retains several resources that reflect the design movement in recreational facilities to use rustic materials, coined "parkitecture." Despite the eventual integration of Raleigh's public facilities in the 1960s, the park has continued to be a focal point for the African American community in Raleigh.
The nomination for the John Chavis Memorial Park was prepared by Hanbury Preservation Consulting with Jeffrey Harris. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in April 2016.
To read the nomination, go to http://www.hpo.ncdcr.gov/nr/WA3867.pdf