and member of the library board. After the death of his daughter in the 1950s, funds from Dr. Woolverton's estate were bequeathed to the City for the purchase of playgrounds and play equipment.
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This park was named in honour of Francis Colcard Woolverton (d.1927), a kindergarten teacher, vice-president of the Hamilton Local Council of Women, and member of the Hamilton Playgrounds Association. A proponent of the "playgrounds movement," Woolverton worked tirelessly to educate the public about the importance of supervised outdoor recreational facilities to the health and well being of children and the need to establish municipally run playgrounds. The playgrounds association that she helped to form in 1909 (later reorganized as the Hamilton's Playground Commission, which was comprised of the Mayor, Council members, and citizens) is considered the forerunner of the City's Department of Culture and Recreation. Her efforts, which made Hamilton one of the first cities in Canada to provide playgrounds, earned her the name of "Mother of Hamilton's Public Playgrounds."
Woolverton's husband, Algernon 1843-1915, was a well-known physician, school trustee,
and member of the library board. After the death of his daughter in the 1950s, funds from Dr. Woolverton's estate were bequeathed to the City for the purchase of playgrounds and play equipment.
Woolverton park was officially opened in August of 1930. It was revitalized in 1988 through the Ontario Neighborhood Improvement Programme, with equal funding provided by the Province of Ontario and the City of Hamilton.
