Family and Friends of Abner Clay Park are committed to the protection and improvement of our community park located in the Historic Jackson Ward in Richmond, Virginia. Family and Friends will run entirely by volunteers, in partnership with the City’s Parks and Recreation Department and the Historic Jackson Ward Association. Our park offers a playground, basketball court, football/rugby field, a gazebo, park benches, Crepe Myrtle trees, chess/checker tables, and azaleas (4.23 mile space).Very few community parks in Richmond, or anywhere for that matter, that accommodate such a variety of activities. Park hours are from dusk to dawn (5 a.m. - 11 p.m.)

Defined by West Clay Street, West Leigh Street, Brook Road, our park is designed to be used. A grove of shade trees near Clay Street creates a sense of enclosure that enhances the continuity of the 19th-century street front. The open playing fields on the park’s northern side -fronting Leigh - affords open vistas of two of the city’s architectural delights - Ebenezer Baptist Church (1858) and the Leigh Street Armory (oldest in Virginia-1895) Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia. Off of Clay Street on the dead end side of the street bordering the playground are Belgian blocks segments, which draws one back in time to the horse traffic of the 19th Century as well as being a marker to our city’s history. On Clay Street surrounding the park, there are historic cast-iron porch railing -second only to those of New Orleans, vine motifs, slender columns, architecturally diverse Greek Revival, Italianate, Federal and Victorian town homes/homes, dating back to 1865, along with row houses, stoop porches, and fanciful elements across the fronts of three three-bay brick homes.

Come One, Come All- Stroll the streets and enjoy the Ward’s rich history