Lorraine Davis Park: Deer Creek Greenway

Located along the Deer Creek Greenway, this park honors Lorraine Davis, a North Webster resident, educator, volunteer and community leader.

About Lorraine Davis

Lorraine Davis Park is named for Lorraine Davis, a North Webster resident who taught English and Latin classes at Douglass High School. Black students from throughout all of St. Louis County attended Douglass High School in North Webster—the first and only accredited high school for Black students in St. Louis County—until 1954 when schools were desegregated.

She was a member of the O.D.T. “Our Day Together” Club which was organized in Webster Groves in the 1930s. As part of the O.D.T. club, Davis worked to provide scholarships and encourage neighborhood beautification and other civic projects. She was also elected to the city’s new Board of Freeholders in 1953.

Lorraine Davis Park

Lorraine Davis Park is located in North Webster at 137 E Waymire Ave, Webster Groves, 63119 (off South Brentwood Blvd.) on the Deer Creek Greenway. North Webster was founded as a community for newly freed enslaved people in 1866, but its roots go back farther.

The first African Americans in what is now North Webster were those enslaved by John Marshall, who came from Virginia in 1832. The linear park and greenway follow the rerouted Shady Creek, once an important source of water, fish and recreation for neighbors in North Webster.

North Webster Walking Tour

The North Webster Neighborhood Coalition, Webster Groves Historical Society and the City of Webster Groves created a self-guided historic walking tour of North Webster. A portion of the tour will take you to sites around Lorraine Davis Park. The tour is free. You can download the pdf document “A Black Community of Faith and Hope: North Webster” here.