10/20/2026
🌳 Time Capsule Tuesday: City Lake Park's Surprising Beginnings — October 1947
Did you know that Mesquite's beloved City Lake Park was originally known as Shands Park?
In 1947, Mesquite was a growing town of just 1,600 residents when local bank president N. E. Shands and brothers Anson and Raymond Holley donated 12.5 acres for the city's first public park.
📸 This wonderful photograph, published in The Dallas Morning News on August 24, 1947, shows Mayor Sam Rutherford accepting the deed for the property, with excavation equipment already at work in the background!
In October 1947, Mesquite appointed its very first Park Board to oversee development of the new park. Dallas County supplied equipment and labor to excavate the lake, while local residents and businesses pitched in to help bring the project to life.
🌳 Here's a fun bit of local history: Mesquite still has a Shands Park today! Located on Caribbean Drive, it's a completely different property from the original Shands Park that became City Lake Park.
Nearly 80 years later, City Lake Park continues to be a gathering place for generations of Mesquite families.
đź’¬ Do you have memories of City Lake Park or today's Shands Park? We'd love to hear them!
đź“– Sources: The Dallas Morning News, August 24, 1947; Texas Historical Commission, City Lake Park Historical Marker (2018).
