REAGAN PARK

This large public park is named for Palestine resident, John Henninger Reagan (1818-1905). Reagan was a Texas pioneer, Postmaster General of the Confederacy, first chairman of the Texas Railroad commission, a U.S. Senator and the principal author of the Interstate Commerce bill. A bond issue was passed in 1910 authorizing the transformation of a tract of land known as Micheaux Woods into a public park. The deed transferring the land from Micheaux Park Land Company to the city was filed in 1911. The Bandstand was built for the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976. The statue of John H. Reagan in the southeast corner of the park, was sculpted by Italian-Texas artist Pompeo Coppini in 1908, and cast in Rome, Italy. Reagan was called “The Old Roman”. The monument, considered one of Coppini’s best works, was dedicated in the park on July 6, 1911. The seated figure at the base of the monument represents “the lost cause” of the Confederacy.