A Small Bridge With Big Meaning for Woodland Park

Today, we joined Friends of Woodland Park in celebrating a ribbon cutting that shows how neighbors can step up to enrich their environments.

When the group first asked Houston Parks and Recreation to add signage to their beloved but hidden oasis, they were told the city couldn’t direct people down to the nature preserve because of a deteriorating wooden plank that served as a makeshift bridge over a gully. Instead of letting that barrier persist, Friends of Woodland Park took action.

With leadership from President Kelli Fereday, and through an Eagle Scout project led by her son Thomas Fereday, the group designed, engineered, and built a brand-new 14-foot by 3-foot wooden bridge. The $8,000 project was fully funded by Friends of Woodland Park with the proper residential addition permit, showing what grassroots dedication can achieve. Their GoFundMe campaign remains open for those who want to support future improvements.

The effort was also supported by Councilmember Mario Castillo, Houston Permitting, and Houston Parks and Recreation, who worked alongside residents to make this community project possible. Councilmember Castillo presented a certificate to Thomas Fereday to commemorate the ribbon cutting ceremony.

A Place with Deep History

Woodland Park carries the remnants of another era, when a dam once created a lake that drew visitors from across the region. Families from the busy Port of Galveston would ride the interurban train to spend weekends here, enjoying the fountain and the landscape as one of Houston’s early pleasure spots.

Today, this stretch of water is known as Little White Oak Bayou, though it was originally called Hollywood Bayou. Local changemaker Taylor Chapman has even begun the process of reclaiming that historic name to avoid confusion and restore its heritage.

Looking Ahead: The Hollywood Bayou Greenway

The bridge is more than a practical fix: it’s a first step toward a larger vision. Recently, the Hollywood Bayou Trail Coalition, a partnership of many local groups, secured $500,000 through Precinct 2’s Partnership Program to fund feasibility studies for a greenway that would connect the confluence of Hollywood Bayou and White Oak Bayou all the way to Independence Heights and Acres Homes.

Coalition members regularly lead walks—sometimes lasting up to six hours—that immerse Houstonians in the ecology and history of this resource-rich corridor. While small, this new bridge represents the kind of incremental, community-driven improvements that will eventually stitch together a continuous Hollywood Bayou Greenway, flowing through historic neighborhoods and creating new opportunities for connection.

Woodland Park is part of a series of parks and greenspaces along or adjacent to the White Oak Bayou Greenway, and A Tale of Two Bridges is deeply supportive of these efforts—drawing inspiration from the work of Friends of Woodland Park and their partners.

Photo credit to Charlie Horse Photos