Lee Memorial Park
Also known as: Lee Park; 123-83
Why it's listed
Lee Memorial Park covers about 300 acres along the southern edge of Petersburg, Virginia, wrapped around Willcox Lake, a reservoir created around 1895. The city set aside 462 acres in 1921 and developed roads, trails, a swimming area with bathhouse, picnic areas and ballfields. These facilities were segregated, and African Americans were excluded. During the Depression, the Petersburg Garden Club, led by Mrs. Donald Claiborne Holden, secured Works Progress Administration funding for a wildflower and bird sanctuary. From December 1935, crews of unemployed African-American women, working under white supervisors, cleared ravines, planted flowers, trees and shrubs, and cut trails across about 25 acres. Funding ended in 1940. The park also preserves a stretch of the Confederate Dimmock Line earthworks, which includes sites of Fort Walker and Battery Pegram. Contributing features include the superintendent's house, the bathhouse, the lake, the earthworks, the trail system and the sanctuary landscape. Portions were later sold for development.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the park reflects Petersburg's early twentieth-century municipal park development and a New Deal conservation project. The WPA Lee Park Wild Flower and Bird Sanctuary, created from 1935 to 1940 by the Petersburg Garden Club, employed unemployed women, including African-American crews. The park also shows Jim Crow-era segregation and preserves a section of the Confederate Dimmock Line earthworks.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 00000896, listed August 14, 2000. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 1832 Johnson Rd., Petersburg (Independent City) |
|---|---|
| County | Petersburg |
| Listed | August 14, 2000 |
| Reference number | 00000896 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1921-1940 |
| Architect / builder | City of Petersburg, VA; Petersburg Garden Club |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements: Naturalistic Landscapes |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Black, Landscape Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still in use as a city park; most WPA sanctuary areas remain largely unaltered and retain the plant habitats of the 1930s. |
| Acreage | 300 |
| Coordinates | 37.20228, -77.40700 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 00000896.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q16894047
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.