Now managed by Audubon Arkansas, Gillam Park, the first public park for Little Rock’s black community prior to integration was built in 1941 and accounts for over 400 acres of our campus.

In 1951, Gillam Park became home to the city’s first public pool for black citizens. Prior to construction, many children and adults swam in nearby bauxite pits or the Arkansas River.

Booker Homes, a public housing project, was constructed in 1952 to provide homes for returning African American vets from World War II. Now the Center’s Wildlife Observation Trail winds where the development once stood.