Bolstered by the improvements to Jackson Park, residents within a three- to four-block radius are forming a neighborhood association, which they hope will be up and running by January. The group’s first official meeting will be at 4 p.m. Feb. 8 in the City Federation Clubhouse, 219 King Circle.

A corps of about 20 households has been working on the association. Several have combined talents to get the ball rolling: Earl Nottingham has designed a Web site; Don Gold has produced a logo; and Vince Mundy is serving as main contact. Also among the organizers are Mike Ringstaff and Cat Tellier, along with Art Coley, who is coordinating the Yard of the Month recognition.

So far, the biggest gain has been residents getting to know their neighbors better, Mundy said.

“We got the ball rolling in October when the city redid Jackson Park,” he said. “We really want to keep this association informal and open to everyone.”

This month they will meet with representatives from the Temple Police Department to form a Neighborhood Watch program.

Once the Jackson Park Association is formally organized, the group hopes to participate in the city’s Adopt-A-Park program, focusing directly on Jackson Park, a 7.7-acre tract centered at 925 N. Fourth St. Volunteers will meet in the park on the second Saturday of every month beginning in March. One of the first goals will be to clean up overgrown vegetation at the park’s west end, between North Second and Main.

Although the neighborhood north of the park was annexed into the city in 1911, most of the houses were built beginning in the late 1930s, with most constructed after World War II.

Up until the 1920s, cattle leisurely grazed along the creek. The neighborhood was made up of a stable core of working families. However, by the 1970s, as more families moved to the newly developed subdivisions in the city’s south and west, the Jackson Park area went into decline. Although Mundy admits that some parts of his neighborhood became neglected, he believes that working with the city and other neighbors will reap big benefits.

In recent years, younger families have moved in, attracted by the canopies of older trees and charming homes that “are not cookie cutter,” Mundy said. He and his wife, Mary Jane, live in a 70-year-old home they have renovated.

“It’s solid, very fine construction that you can’t find today,” Mundy said. “We love it here.”

They also like the neighborhood’s sense of history and stability. “We’ve lived here 15 years, and we’re among the newcomers,” Mundy added.

pbenoit@temple-telegram.com