Jenny-Lynn Franklin Guth of Orange, Texas, has donated 28.12 acres of land to the city, including acreage along the river.
Guth made the donation with the provision that the land be preserved for use as a public park, Fredericksburg City Manager Beverly Cameron said. The park will be named Butler Brayne Park in honor of Guth’s mother, Butler–Brayne Thornton Robinson Franklin, who lived with her husband at Fall Hill in Fredericksburg, the Georgian estate built by her family in 1736.
The donated land is comprised of three adjoining parcels, which have been in Guth’s family since the 18th century. The parcels extend from the Rappahannock River on the north to Fall Hill Avenue on the south. The property is bordered on the west by apartments and Sunshine Ballpark and additional city owned property.
The donated property also abuts 28.79 acres to the east, conveyed to the city in 1996 by Bessie Franklin Turk and Fred Turk. The newly donated Guth Property provides public road access to the Turk property. “[The Turk property] is likewise suitable for public park development itself, providing space feasible for the development of motor vehicle access and parking, visitor amenities, picnic shelters, trails, natural wooded areas, open spaces, and scenic views of the Rappahannock River,” the Fredericksburg Future Parks Committee 2011 final report stated.
“Prior to construction of the city’s improvements on the property, the city shall inventory and protect all historic features, develop a tree protection plan, and incorporate the tree protection plan into its site planning, site development and construction activities,” Cameron said.
