Fort Worth Zoological Park, the oldest continuous zoo site in Texas, has provided recreational and educational opportunities since 1909. Fort Worth's first zoo was a small menagerie in an old City Park operated by the newly established Park Board. After a 1909 flood destroyed the animal collection, the city's first Park Superintendent, George Vinnedge, chose this site for a new zoo. Over the years, the zoo experienced steady growth in facilities and additions to its collection, largely because of community support and concern.