Angelina Danese Park

Acres: 0.2 This neighborhood park is a perfect place to relax beneath the trees or enjoy the playground with your children. History: Angelina Danese Park is located in south Jacksonville, at the intersection of Danese Court and St. Augustine Road. The site comprised part of the Philips community that was established in the last half of the 1800’s. Alexander and Angelina Danese, who arrived in America as immigrants from Italy in 1885, had twelve children following their marriage in 1898. The couple established their home on the park property in 1929, and after their deaths the children wanted to honor their parents’ memory. Their son Emanuel Danese, and his wife Mary Margaret, later donated the property to the city in 1973 for use as a passive public park – in honor of his parents and with the stipulation that it be named for his mother. But the site remained a vacant tract until the city, with the aid of City Councilmen Matt Carlucci and Reggie Fullwood, developed the property as a neighborhood park, which opened in March 2003.