Click here to read the Waxahachie Daily Light report from March 12, 2007. Click here to see a video account by Now Magazines Around Town - April 2007 Edition. ________________________________________________________________________________

Marker Dedication For Getzendaner Park
Held March 10

On Saturday, March 10, 2007 at 10 am a short ceremony took place which dedicated the new Texas Historical Marker honoring the history of Getzendaner Memorial Park in Waxahachie, Texas. On that date the Ellis County Historical Commission, the City of Waxahachie, and the Chautauqua Preservation Society came together at the marker site at the entrance to the park to recognize the important legacy of Getzendaner Park. After the dedication, the celebration continued at the Chautauqua Auditorium with refreshments and music.

The three organizations teamed up in 2006 to research and apply for the marker from the Texas Historical Commission. This park has a long and rich history under 3 different names. First called West End Park in 1889 when it was platted as part of Waxahachie new West End Addition, it became known as Chautauqua Park from 1900 to 1930 while it provided a home to the longest lasting Chautauqua in Texas history. In 1914, R.W. Getzendaner and his sister Willia Getzendaner Skinner bought the Chautauqua Park property from a group of citizens to cover the debt of the Waxahachie Chautauqua Park Association. They then gave the park to the City of Waxahachie in memory of their parents W.H. and Willia Getzendaner. The park was renamed Getzendaner Memorial Park.

For 118 years, the park has continued to give its visitors the recreation, respite and natural beauty its developers envisioned.

Here is the history of Getzendaner Memorial Park that was written in 2006 and submitted to the Texas Historical Commission with the application for a Texas Historical Marker.

And here are some photos from the early Chautauqua Assemblies at what was then called Chautauqua Park.