History:

Libbey Park, formerly known as Civic Center Park, was first purchased for $7,500 and then developed by Ojai’s Greatest Benefactor, Edward Libbey, of Toledo, Ohio. On April 7, 1917, Mr. Libbey donated the park to the Ojai Civic Association, which raised the money from the rental of the Post Office building to maintain the park and the buildings connected to it. The Ojai Civic Association eventually signed over the deed making the City of Ojai owner and protector of the downtown park as of March 2, 1971, with the stipulation that the land continue to be used as a park and not for any other purposes. The city resolved to call the gift, Libbey Park, in honor of the man that had done so much for the city.