Murphy-Trainor and J.T. Owens Parks

Title

Murphy-Trainor and J.T. Owens Parks

Description

What is the history of the Murphy-Trainor Memorial Park (dedicated 1994) and the J.T. Owens Park? How and why were they created?

Creator

Chang Lu

Text

Murphy-Trainor Park, 4.6 acres of woods on the southwest side of the Mashapaug pond, was purchased by the city and developed into a passive recreation area in June 1994 under a five-year fight by the Mashapaug Pond Action Committee, which was a sub-branch of the Reservoir Triangle Neighborhood Association, to save the woodland from being developed into townhouses.

J.T. Owens Park was built by the state in 1950s and was taken over by the Parks Department in 1994. The park is dedicated to John T. Owens who was a famous baseball player in amateur local baseball team in Providence. People used to call him “Happy Owens”. Owens became a serviceman and was killed in WWII. In Providence City Directory, John T. Owens’s name disappeared after 1956.

[See attached file for more information and references]

Files

Collection

Citation

Chang Lu, “Murphy-Trainor and J.T. Owens Parks,” Reservoir of Memories, accessed March 19, 2024, https://reservoirofmemories.omeka.net/items/show/76.