Montgomery Hall Park

Montgomery Hall Park, a municipal park for African Americans during the segregation era, opened on 4 July 1947. The Rev. T. J. Jemison of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, an African American community leader, persuaded Staunton City Council to purchase about 150 acres for the project. The land had been part of John Howe Peyton's Montgomery Hall plantation, established early in the 19th century. A committee of African American citizens appointed by City Council managed the park, which featured a swimming pool, bowling alley, and picnic facilities and drew crowds from throughout central Virginia. Staunton’s park system was desegregated late in the 1960s.