Dan Daniel Memorial Park

Open Dawn to Dusk - 302 River Park Drive

One of the more popular parks in Danville, Dan Daniel offers park goers an array of activities including ball fields, walking and nature trails and much more. Amenities include picnic shelters, mountain bike/hiking trails, Riverwalk trail, soccer/football fields, little league baseball fields, playground and Philip Wyatt Skate Park.

Minor League Baseball - Dan Daniel is also home of the Danville Otterbots. The Otterbots' home-field, American Legion Post 325 Field, was built in 1993.

Veterans Memorial - The Danville/Pittsylvania County Veterans Memorial is also located in Dan Daniel Memorial Park. The half-acre site features a 7-foot by 158-foot long black granite wall with the names of all local veterans who died in our Nation's wars from the American Revolution to our present conflicts.

A circular brick memorial walkway engraved with veterans' names on individual bricks enhances the site. Veterans from anywhere, living or dead, qualify for an engraved brick. The public is encouraged to purchase a brick for any honorably discharged loved one or for any man or woman currently serving in any branch of our armed services.

Homage to Dan Daniel

Dan Daniel (born Wilbur Clarence Daniel; May 12, 1914 – January 23, 1988) was a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia, serving from 1969 until his death from a heart attack in Charlottesville, VA in 1988. He previously served as the National Commander of The American Legion from 1956 to 1957.  

Born in Chatham, VA, Dan Daniel grew up on a tobacco farm in Mecklenburg County. He was educated in Virginia schools, and was a graduate of Dan River Textile School, Danville, VA. 

 Daniel represented Danville in the House of Delegates for nine years beginning with the assembly session of 1960. His committee assignments included Education, Finance, General Laws, Militia and Police (which he chaired during the 1968 session), Privileges and Elections, and Public Property, as well as the Commission of Veterans’ Affairs and the Virginia State Crime Commission. 

From 1939 to 1968, except for a period of service in the U.S. Navy during World War II era, he was associated with Dan River Mills, the textile industry that operated a mill on the Dan River. He advanced through the ranks of the textile business to become assistant to the chairman of the board at Dan River Mills. He was elected commander of The American Legion's Department of Virginia in 1951, and National Commander in 1956.  

He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates from 1959 to 1968, was President of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce in 1968, and was a permanent member of the President's People-to-People Committee (now People to People International). He was elected as a Democrat to the 91st United States Congress and to nine succeeding congresses, serving from January 3, 1969, until his death from a heart attack at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, VA on January 23, 1988.  

He was interred in Highland Burial Park in Danville, VA. In 1990 Averett College (after 2001 Averett University), of which Daniel had been a trustee, established a professorship bearing his name. Three years later, Danville leaders named a 170-acre recreational facility Dan Daniel Memorial Park.

Information received via the Virginia Encyclopedia.