Virginia Park

What was here before?

Photographs show a wooden two-story house standing on the site of present-day Virginia Park in 1890. In December 1924, Gray Avenue was laid out on the present site of Virginia Avenue. With the building of the Cross-Bronx Expressway and the extension of the MTA’s 6 train line, the area surrounding the park has become a lively transportation hub.

How did this site become a park?

Virginia Park was acquired in the late 1940s in conjunction with the laying out and acquisition of land for the Cross-Bronx Expressway, which runs below the park. Virginia Park and nearby Virginia Playground opened on July 21, 1956. The park’s walkways were reconstructed in 1996.

Along with neighboring Hugh J. Grant Circle, Virginia Park was completely reconstructed in 2021 as part of NYC Parks’ Parks Without Borders initiative to make the area a more open, accessible, and seamless part of the community. The project redesigned the park’s entrances and provided new paving and fences to redefine this public space. Additional features like benches, drinking fountains, and plantings were added, to enhance the overall appearance of the site. Park security lighting will further activate the public area, providing a safer, more welcoming passage.

What is this park named for?

This park is named for nearby Virginia Avenue. It is commonly thought that a surveyor of the area renamed the throughway Virginia Avenue to commemorate his birthplace in Stratford, in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The names of the adjacent streets, Stratford and Commonwealth Avenues, support this theory.