The park was a day-use picnic area located on 7.43 acres (3 ha) of secondary forest outside Institute, approximately 0.86 miles (1.4 km) east of the West Virginia State College (now University) campus.

The park was integrated shortly after the Brown v. Board of Education decision by the United States Supreme Court in May 1954.

[6][7][8] The park was situated on 7.43 acres (3 ha) at an elevation of 732 feet (223 m)[1] on the northern edge of the Kanawha River valley.

It was bound by forested hills to its west and east, the confluence of Finney Branch and an unnamed stream in a hollow to its north, and the northern end of Pinewood Drive to its south.

[5][6][7] Finney Branch is a tributary stream of the Kanawha River, which flows 1.22 miles (2 km) southwest of the park's location.

[8] This region of the Kanawha River valley was granted to George Washington, recently returned from fighting in the French and Indian War, following Virginia Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie's Proclamation of 1754.

[13][14] The Proclamation of 1754 encouraged enlistment for the Monongahela expedition in exchange for a reward of land from a 200,000-acre (80,937 ha) reservation in western Virginia.

[15] The area's wine industry shuttered following the American Civil War possibly due to high labor costs, unreliable grape crops, and competition from out-of-state wineries.

[15] In 1853 Samuel I. Cabell purchased 967 acres (391 ha) encompassing the Kanawha River valley bottomlands between Sattes and the western area of present-day Dunbar.

[16][18] The state purchased a 30-acre (12 ha) tract of land from Elijah and Marina Cabell Hurt, and commenced construction of the institute's campus.

[16] African American educator Booker T. Washington, a former Kanawha River valley resident from nearby Malden, frequently visited the institute's campus as a guest lecturer.

[24] The movement succeeded in taking advantage of available West Virginia Board of Control funding from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) when the Legislature established Camp Washington-Carver in 1937 near Clifftop in Fayette County.

[21][25] The 583-acre (236 ha) African American 4-H camp was constructed by the WPA between 1939 and 1942 and was transferred from the West Virginia Board of Control to the West Virginia State College extension service, which offered instruction to African American children and adolescents in the subjects of agricultural education, soil conservation, home economics, and 4-H values.

[4][21] On August 5, 1949, West Virginia Conservation Commission Director C. F. McClintic formally announced that a public day-use recreational area for African Americans was being developed in Institute, and would be named for Booker T.

[32][33] Unlike other West Virginia state parks, Booker T. Washington also lacked scenic views and hiking trails.