Friends Group Maintains Morningside Park Gem

The Friends of Herbert Taylor Park & Daniel Johnson Park is the organizational steward of two adjacent Atlanta city parks in Morningside comprising 39 acres and surrounding the areas where the South Fork of Peachtree Creek and Rock Creek flow through the neighborhood.  Herbert Taylor Park, the largest parcel, was deeded to the city beginning in 1972, and enlarged over the years.  Daniel Johnson Park, the smaller area, was transferred to Atlanta Parks by the Johnson family in the 1930s.  It runs along Beech Valley Road.

Friends of Herbert Taylor Park & Daniel Johnson Park was established in 2018.  According to Friends of HTDJ Co-chair Marti Breen, “the organization was founded to restore the environment of the parks for all the native, migrating, and visiting flora and fauna. Our main work is removing invasive species, maintaining trails and planting native plants.”

She added: “We invite everyone, whether they have experience or not, to join us for our regular workdays, the second Saturday of every month, 9-NOON (except from July-Sept when we meet 8-11).  We meet at the kiosk at 1343 Pasadena Av NE for introductions and instructions.  We encourage gardeners to bring their favorite gloves and hand tools, but we also have a supply of both to loan including all sorts of cool tools to use, including weed wrenches.”

Friends of Herbert Taylor Park & Daniel Johnson Park

What are some of the group’s recent successes? 

We have been entrusted with funding from a variety of sources.  Native plant installations were conducted using funds from the COA Planning Department's Community Improvement Grant awarded by NPU-F.  Park Pride has awarded grants in varying amounts to Friends of HTDJ who then raised matching funds and completed projects successfully on time and on budget. These grants funded improvements to the trails including benches for rest / reflection, new and more accurate signage, and new dogi-pots to encourage waste clean-up.  We attracted new visitors to the park with an art educational project by local photographer Diane Kirkland, titled "What's Underfoot."  The exhibit challenged visitors to examine the mosses, fungi, molds, and lichen that are often overlooked, yet form a vital link in our ecosystem.

We worked with the subcontractor on the successful completion of the COA Infrastructure bond work including trail improvements, improved and added access points to the park and the construction of a new bridge across Rock Creek (and the redecking of the existing bridge).  We have hosted more than 350 volunteers who have contributed more than 950 hours working in the park on trail building and maintenance, invasive species removal, and native plantings.

What are some of the group’s challenges?  

We have several.  Continuing erosion, particularly on South Fork Peachtree Creek, has necessitated re-routing trails and threatens the tree canopy in the parks.  We have consulted experts in stream remediation, but the scope of work and cost to mitigate is beyond our financial resources. Also, neighbors continue to use landscapers who are introducing species from outside the Piedmont that are escaping cultivation and spreading to the park via wind, water, and wildlife. Since there was virtually no upkeep done in the park for 10-15 years before the Friends group began working, the presence of invasive species is at times daunting.  Another challenge we face is the dearth of expertise surrounding the control and eradication of invasive species.

Tell us a bit about the organization’s history and governance.

Friends of Herbert Taylor Park & Daniel Johnson Park (our official name) was registered with Park Pride in 2018, succeeding an earlier group that had lost momentum and not worked in the park for years (Rock Creek Watershed Alliance, RCWA).  By the way, many of the current board either served on the board of RCWA or were active in the group.  Friends of HTDJ is governed by an executive committee of 8 members of the Friends of HTDJ, elected in May of each year.  We hold bi-monthly meetings on the first Monday of odd numbered months, except when holidays interfere.  Meetings are announced in the newsletter, sent at the end of each month.  In order to be a voting member of the group, you must either work on a workday or make a financial contribution.  At the end of 2025 there were 290 members.

Describe your relationship with South Fork Conservancy. 

We have a good relationship—(SFC Founding Director) Sally Sears has been to several of our workdays so is very familiar with our work and challenges.  (SFC Executive Director) Kayla Altland was the grants manager who we worked with during her tenure at Park Pride.