Fourteen acres was set aside for Riverside Park by the founder John Murray Forbes. Construction was completed in 1894 making this one of Jacksonville’s oldest city parks. In those days, the area had many cattle that could access the park so they had to fence it off with turn styles at two corners. The Park initially had five spring-fed lakes, but currently has only one lake. The park also contained a brick road going through the park for carriages. The road was eventually closed in 1931 due to young men freighting the women when they raced their motor cars across the park. The picture on your right shows the park in 1906.

The Arial picture on your left shows the park today. You can see the park divide into five sections where the four filled lakes once were. On the northeast corner you will see the play ground that was added to the park in 2002. In the playground is a play system made out of wood that compliments the historic park and neighborhood. Later the city put in the expressway that took many arces from the park.