City Park (Dallas)
City Park is a living history museum and heritage village located on the site of Dallas’s first city park. The site houses one of the largest collections of nineteenth‑century pioneer and Victorian buildings in Texas, relocated from across North Central Texas and open to the public since the late 1960s.
History
In 1876, Dallas acquired what became its first city park—a landscaped public space built around Browder Spring that later featured amenities like a bandstand, fountains, and even a small zoo. The Dallas County Heritage Society took over the park’s preservation and museum function beginning in 1967, initiating the relocation of dozens of historic structures to form a cohesive heritage village, officially later renamed Dallas Heritage Village during the US Bicentennial in 1976.In 2005, the name Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park was adopted, reflecting the dual identity of park and museum. In 2024, management contracts shifted and the city of Dallas resumed full operational control of the site on May 27, 2024; the Dallas County Heritage Society began operating under the new “Old City Park Conservancy” name to continue supporting programming and advocacy.