John Winters Park

John Winters Park is a small open area in downtown Raleigh. It was named after John W. Winters, Sr. (1920-2004), Raleigh’s first African American city councilman and one of the first African Americans elected to the North Carolina State Senate since the Reconstruction Era.

This small park is a narrow strip of grass crossed by a couple of paved paths. There are several benches, most of them in the center of the park. It’s a nice place to take a break if you’re near downtown. The park sits at the north end of Chavis Way. If you visit here, I’d highly recommend taking a stroll down the wide tree-lined sidewalk of Chavis Way, south to Chavis Park. If you visit John Winters Park, I’d also recommend visiting nearby Cooke Street, a neighborhood on the edge of Historic Oakwood known for it’s yearly street carnival. Cooke Street is also home to an urban greenway.

On the day I visited John Winters Park, I had a very nice time biking from the Lions Park (I’ll be posting about it soon) to the Lane Street Mini Park, down Chavis Way and along the new Little Rock Greenway to the Walnut Creek Wetlands Center. From the Wetlands Center, you can head east or west along the Walnut Creek Greenway system. I live in North Raleigh and usually visit downtown by car. I was very pleased to find that this area of Raleigh is easily navigated by bike.

This just in (March 2011) :

Photos on Flickr

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