Washington Park is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Winston-Salem, as well as one of the loveliest. The community is situated close to both the downtown area and Old Salem, and consists of single family homes of varying sized and a mixture of architectural styles.
The neighborhood was designed by Jacob Ludlow in the mid 1890s, and was initially centered around a streetcar line, and the park that gave the area its name. The park’s land, which was originally just over 17 acres, was donated to the city by a local company in 1892, one of the first times in history land was given to a city for public use.
For those in search of down home cooking, the place to dine is Big Mama’s restaurant, which is located in the space formerly occupied by the Acadia Grill, a popular restaurant in the community for a number of years. The restaurant, which is open for lunch and dinner Wednesdays through Saturdays, specializes in traditional Southern food that the owner, a former beautician, prepares using as much locally grown produce as possible and adds her own unique twist on menu items, based on her travel experiences.
In the center of the community is its namesake, Washington Park. Over the years, the park’s original 17 acres has expanded to its current size of 75 acres and includes wooded trails for walking and jogging, a number of sheltered picnic areas, a fairly large playground and a basketball court. The park also provides an area for residents to do an outdoor workout and a pair of softball fields. Residents are welcome to bring their pets to the park on a leash, and there is an off leash play area for small and larger canines, with benches for their owners, watering stations and waste clean up supplies.