Facilities

Playground Equipment

• 2 Bay Youth Swing Set
• Play Structure
• Single Baby Tot Swing Set

Activities Held at Bayard Rustin

• Art camps
• Basketball tournament

History

In the summer of 1939 Bayard Rustin Park opened. The park was originally known as the Walnut Street Park. On June 4, 1998 the park was dedicated and the name was changed to Bayard Rustin Park.

Bayard Rustin was born in West Chester on March 17, 1912. The borough named the park after Rustin, because he was an African-American civil rights leader. He was best know for planning the March on Washington in 1963, when Martin Luther King gave his “I Have A Dream” speech. Besides being a civil rights leader in the 1950s to 1980s, Rustin was a Quaker.

Bayard Rustin Park is approximately 1.4 acres. The first part of the land was purchased on March 30, 1964, and the second section of land was purchased on April 19, 1966. The borough purchased each section of the land for $1.